


He's My Brother!?

by Sweetopia



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BAMF Haruno Sakura, Comedy, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Falling In Love, Haruno Sakura-centric, Multi, Romance, Step-siblings, Teen Romance, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2019-10-02 09:51:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17262059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweetopia/pseuds/Sweetopia
Summary: Sakura's dad and Sasuke's mom have been dating for a few months when they decide to move in together and get married. For Sakura and Sasuke the whole experience changes their lives. Can their intense sibling rivalry turn into love? Modern sibling AU. SakuraCentric.





	1. Chapter 1

Sakura's P.o.v

It was late on a Friday night and I was waiting for with my dad outside an upscale restaurant, freezing to death. I nervously tugged at the hem of my dress, regretting wearing something so short. We're waiting for my dad's girlfriend and her son. My dad had been dating a mystery woman for about six months now and tonight was the night I was finally going to meet her. The restaurant and the strange talk I had had with my dad in the car on the way here, led to me to believe that they had something to tell me and I had the strangest feeling I wasn't going to like it.

"Sakura will you please stop fidgeting, you're making me nervous!" My dad complained. I glared but tried to keep my shivering to a minimum. "Sorry, I'm just a bit worried that you will disapprove."

"I can't, despite how you act, you are the adult here and you get to choose what you want to do," I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest wished I was inside. "So I can't disapprove. I'm sure she's lovely. Anyone is better than mom."

Dad scowled when I mentioned my demon of a mother. Her walking out on us was the only good thing she had ever done. I was cautiously optimistic that this woman, who had been making my dad seem so happy over the past few months, was going to be around for a while. Over the years my dad had a few girlfriends, none of them stuck around for longer than a month.

Soon he was grinning and waving at someone walking down the street. I tiptoed to see over the crowd. Walking towards us was a beautiful raven-haired woman. She looked like a doll, her pretty porcelain skin was matched by symmetrical features. She was dressed immaculately, and expensively, I guessed.

"Mikoto!" He laughed as she hugged him tightly. "This is my daughter Sakura." My dad turned so that the woman could see me. I suddenly felt a wave of nervousness overcome me.

"I'm so pleased to finally meet you, Sakura!" I let out a sigh of relief as she hugged me, a warm and loving embrace.

"So, when's the boy coming?" my dad asked looking down the street for the fourth person in our party. I desperately hoped that he would be arriving soon, I was getting colder by the minute.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you, didn't I? He'll be here soon, but I gave him some errands to run and he's a bit behind schedule. Let's go eat while we're waiting!" Mikoto chattered excitedly. I was amazed by how quickly she spoke. Grateful that we would be somewhere warm, I rushed to open the restaurant door. The restaurant was the kind of place that sold lobster and caviar not my usual diet, which mainly consisted of cookies and pizza. As it turns out I quite liked lobster.

We were seated at a table at the back of the restaurant, mercifully far away from the front door which was letting in blasts of cold air as people came and went. I hesitated, waiting for my dad and Mikoto to choose their seats. With the couple sitting opposite each other, I erred on the side of caution and took the seat next to my dad. The tension I had been feeling at the thought of coming to dinner was slowly, but surely ebbing away.

"So Sakura, tell me," Mikoto said as she perused the wine list. "What classes are you taking? Kizashi tells me you're attending the same school as my son."

Just as I was about to answer he came in. Sasuke Uchiha. And ruined it all.

"Hey mom, sorry I'm late but-" He stopped mid-sentence and looked at me with horrified eyes. We both yelled at the same time, "What the hell are YOU doing here?"

I hadn't noticed that the lovely woman next to me resembled the guy that I resented so much. The same black hair, the same black eyes, the same lips...not that I paid any particular attention to Sasuke's lips. There was an unspoken hatred between us, there always had been. Ever since we were nine and Sasuke stole my first kiss and I had slapped him straight across the face. I glared at him as he sat down opposite me.

"Oh," dad said fighting a grin. "You know my daughter, Sasuke?"

"Sadly, I do," Sasuke said, smirking. I kicked his shin under the table, enjoying the glare he gave in return.

"Why didn't you tell me that he was Mikoto's son?" I asked my dad angrily. More like how could he be Mikoto's son? How did such a nice woman give birth to such a class A jerk?

"I didn't know that you knew each other!" He said defensively. "I think this may dampen the news thought Miki."

Mikoto nodded and looked down at the table and I immediately thought the worst.

"Oh god, you're not pregnant are you!" I yelled. Mikoto looked at me for a moment before she burst into laughter. A wave of relief washed over me. I put my hand to my chest and exhaled heavily.

"Mikoto and I are getting married!" Dad said giving me a goofy thumbs up. "And we're moving in with them!" He added quickly, hoping I wouldn't catch onto what he was saying.

"WHAT!" To my surprise, Sasuke shouted in protest too.

"What did you mean we're moving into the Uchiha mansion?" I asked. "I will not live under the same roof as Sasuke Uchiha and there is no way on earth you could make me. This is completely unreasonable and out of the blue! You two have been dating for what, 6 months? Getting married and moving in together! It's too soon!"

Sasuke sat in stoic silence, clearly not impressed by the news. My Dad shrugged his shoulders at me, this would be a conversation we continued in the privacy of our own home, where I could cause as much of a scene as I wanted. I groaned, crossing my arms over my chest, determined to sulk for the rest of the evening.

The waiter arrived just in time to break the icy silence.

The rest of the evening was dampened by my foul mood. I kept my eyes firmly fixed onto my plate and only responded to questions with one-word answers. Fully aware how rude I was being, I did try to engage in conversation with Mikoto a little more pleasantly, but with little success. By the time the bill came, I was practically out of the door. I didn't want to hang around with Sasuke in the lobby so I stood, shivering, outside.

The cab ride home was deadly silent. I was mad, dad was mad, but no matter what we wouldn't start fighting until we got home. And fight we did.

"I can't believe you're making me move in with him!" I yelled as the front door closed behind us.

"I can't believe what a rude, spoiled brat you were being all night!" Dad shouted back. His face was growing red, just as it always did when he was trying not to be angry at me.

"Ugh! I hate him! I actually hate him! The one person in the world that I hate and you have to marry his mom!?" I hissed, taking off my shoes and resting my throbbing feet on the cold tile of the kitchen floor. "Honestly, Dad! Literally anyone else!"

My dad rubbed his temples and sighed. For a moment I thought he was going to give in.

"Sakura Haruno, you're my daughter and you will do what I tell you to. I'm telling you that we're moving, so that is what we're doing. You can be as moody and bitchy about it as you want it's still happening and if you dare act like this in front of Mikoto again so help me you will be grounded until you leave for college," he stated calmly. I opened my mouth to protest, but the look on his face made me think twice. I rolled my eyes and stormed upstairs to my room, making sure to slam the door extra loudly.

I threw my self face-first onto my bed, screaming into my pillows. Of all the times my dad could have chosen to act like a serious parent he chose this one. Pulling my cell phone out of my bag I dialled my best friend's number.

"Hey, Saku!" Ino answered on the first ring. "How was dinner?"

"I think I might have to emancipate my self," I sighed.

"Uh-oh. What happened? Was she a bitch?"

"No, no Mikoto is fine...The only thing is that she's" I paused and shuddered. "Sasuke's mom!"

Ino's scream was so loud that I had to pull the phone away from my ear. "No!"

"Yes, but that's not the worst part! Apparently, my dad has completely lost his mind because they just announced they are getting married and we're supposedly moving in with them," I ranted, tucking a pillow under my chin and hugging it close.

"But- but that means..."

"That he's my new step-brother!" I wailed into the phone.

Sweetopia: Let me know what you think! Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

I stomped down the stairs, carrying the last of my boxes from my room to the car. It had been a week since the nightmare had begun and it had only gotten more hellish as the week wore on. At first, I was in denial - I hadn't started packing until two days before we were meant to be moving. Then came the anger - I screamed the house down when I had come home to find my dad boxing up the living room. Next was bargaining - "Why can't we live here and you could stay with Mikoto on weekends?" Then depression - I had laid on my bedroom floor and cried for four hours. And now, acceptance.

Trudging through the wet leaves in our driveway, I set my last two boxes into the trunk of my car. It was a sad sight, my old beat up car full to the brim with all my worldly possessions. I sighed and closed the trunk, turning back to the house for one last look around. I walked gloomily around, brushing my hands along the walls as I walked by. I had grown up in this house, everything I had ever known was in this house and now I was leaving it all behind. I could feel the tears pricking my eyes as I reminisced about my childhood. There were good and bad memories here. The only memories I had of my mom were contained within the walls of this house. It felt wrong to leave.

There was a knock at the front door, distracting me from my trip down memory lane. Wiping my eyes, I walked through the kitchen and to the door. I opened it to reveal Sasuke standing there in all his cocky glory. He raised his eyebrows at my clearly red face.

"Hn. I'm here to drive you to my house," he said moodily.  
I have a car," I replied, crossing my arms.

I know, idiot. You're gonna drive behind me so I can show you where it is," he sighed, exasperated with my standoffishness.

I shrugged, barging past him and slamming the door behind me. I smirked in satisfaction as he quickly moved out of my way. I ducked into the front seat of my car and gunned the engine, waiting for Sasuke to hurry up. Turning on the radio, I let myself have a moment of peace. Sasuke climbed into his fancy Volvo and pulled out of my driveway. I hesitated for a moment, knowing that this would be the last time I drive away from my house, but I also didn't want to get left behind. I did my best to keep up with Sasuke's frankly reckless driving. He skipped a red light and barely made another two, leaving me stuck at the intersection. As we pulled into the driveway, I rolled my eyes at the automatic gates. I had expected Sasuke to live in a mansion, but I was not prepared for the sheer scale of the place.

It was a stunningly modern piece of architecture, with one giant glass wall, which could only be gotten away with because the house was surrounded by woodland. I tried not to gawp, but it was difficult not to. My rusty car looked painfully out of place sat on their sandstone driveway.

"Sakura!" Mikoto beamed, opening the front door and inviting me in.

"Hi," I smiled meekly, half embarrassed about my attitude the night we met and half completely intimidated.

"Come in, come in! I'll show you to your room!" She latched on to my arm, pulling me through the door.

"But my-"

"Oh, don't worry about your stuff, the movers will bring it in, just leave your keys," She smiled, waving her hand as if it was nothing. I dropped my keys into the dish by the door and was swiftly whisked away. The house was as jaw-dropping inside as it was outside, I marvelled at the expensive furniture and artwork as we wandered through the house.

My room was equally stunning. It was bigger than the entire living room at my old house. It was more like a penthouse hotel suite than a bedroom. It was all white with grey and pink accents. The king-size bed was covered in throw pillows and soft, fluffy blankets. On the opposite side of the room by the window were two couched and a wall mounted plasma screen. I gawped.

"Do you like it?" Mikoto asked, her face contorted into a worried frown.

"It's…it's amazing!" I laughed. This was my dream room.

"Well, I'll leave you to settle in," she smiled, "the bathroom is through that door."

I smiled and gave her a small wave as she left the room. Twenty minutes later there was a knock at my door. I opened it to find my boxed stacked out in the hall. It was as good a time as any to get unpacked, so I began dragging the boxes through the door.

It took a good few hours, but I finally finished emptying the last box. My closet was barely half full, and my books and knickknacks which used to clutter my old room fit perfectly into this new space. I sighed, tiredly, and threw myself onto one of the couches. The view from my floor to ceiling window was treetops as the woodland spread out around the house. In such a peaceful setting it was hard for me to be upset. Hard, but not impossible. My chest ached when I thought about my old house, feeling guilty for enjoying the new one so much. I thought about my tiny cramped room, the single bed squished against the wall, towers of books pilled wherever I could fit them, postcards stuck to every available piece of wall.

Feeling the stress of the day piling up, I decided to take a bath to relax. So, heading to the bathroom, I took my time running a nice hot bath and started to undress. I kicked off my sneakers, pulled off my socks, wiggled my way out of my jeans stumbling as I did. I was just pulling my sweater over my head, the door opened and there stood Sasuke, wearing sweats and a towel around his neck. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out. I was stood there, half-naked and in shock.

"How did you-" I looked at him stood in the doorway and back to the door which I had entered the bathroom through. "This is a shared bathroom!?" I shrieked. Of all the rooms in this gigantic house and they put me in a room where I had to share a bathroom!?

"Nice," Sasuke smirking as he looked me up and down.

"YOU PERVERT!" I yelled, grabbing my shoe and launching it at his head. He ducked out of the way. I grabbed the other shoe threatening to throw it.

Sasuke moved closer. I raised the shoe higher.

"Back off Sasuke," I warned. "I'm so not in the mood for your shit today!"

"But Sa-ku-ra," he practically purred. I felt the blush rising up my cheeks, changing my cheeks from pale to pink to bright red. Sasuke's serious face cracked into a grin as he broke down into laughter. "AHAHAH THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE!"

"Ugh!" I yelled throwing my shoe at the guy. I was about to shove him back through his bedroom door when I had the best idea. If you can't beat them, join them and all that!

Plucking up the courage, I stepped forward a shy look on my face.

"Sasuke," I fluttered my eyelashes. "I think my bra hook is stuck, could you help me out?"

Sasuke looked up at me with one eyebrow raised. He looked at my face and then down to my chest and then back again.

"Uhm..."

"Please, Sasuke?" I asked again stepping closer to him so that I was way too close to ignore. He swallowed and then nodded, I could practically see him sweating. I turned around and I could feel his cold fingers on my back. I couldn't help but shiver. "Sasuke," I said softly.

"Hmm?"

"You really think I would let you take off my bra?" I laughed, turning around and shoving him back through his bedroom door locking it quickly.

"Ugh! Sakura!" Sasuke yelled, pounding on the bathroom door. I stood giggling on the other side, maybe annoying Sasuke 24/7 wouldn't be so bad after all.

Sasuke was still banging on the bathroom door as I settled myself into the bath, sighing as the hot water relaxed my aching muscles. I was still a little pissed that I had to share the bathroom, but the lavender scented bubble bath was slowly ebbing away my worries. Now if only that constant banging would stop.

"Sasuke, give it a rest," I shouted.

"I needed to use the bathroom," he shouted back.

"Use another bathroom, there's like a billion of them in this house!"

I woke with the next morning with the realisation that Sasuke had seen me half naked and that was an image I never wanted him to have in his head. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about that now. I rolled out of bed, pulled a sweatshirt on over my pyjamas and made my way downstairs. After a few moments of wandering, I found myself in the kitchen. Mikoto was making coffee when I walked in.

"Hello, Sakura, did you sleep well last night?" She asked. Even in the morning, Mikoto looked so well put together – fully dressed with a fresh face.

I nodded, bleary-eyed and accepted the cup of coffee she offered me. I gulped it down holding out the mug for a second hit. I wasn't close to a human being without coffee. After my second cup full I had started to wake up.

"Did Sasuke bother you last night? Your father and I thought we heard shouting," Mikoto asked looking concerned. As if on cue, Sasuke and my dad walked into the kitchen together. Sasuke and I avoided eye contact and I tried not to think about the way Sasuke had looked at me the night before.

"Oh, yeah, it was nothing," I shrugged, giving Sasuke the side eye. "I didn't realise it was a shared bathroom is all…Morning, dad!"

"Oh, did I not mention?" Mikoto frowned.

"Nope," I laughed, standing to go and get changed out of my pyjamas. "Sasuke saw me naked!" I declared.

There was a dead silence as the two parents let the sentence sink into their brains.

"He what!" My dad shouted, but Sasuke really didn't need to be afraid of my dad – his mom was, surprisingly, the more dangerous of the two.

"SASUKE UCHIHA!" She shrieked. I took a step back shocked. "HOW DARE YOU WALK IN ON SAKURA WHILE SHE WAS USING THE BATHROOM. WHO RAISED YOU TO BE SUCH A PERVERT?"

"Mom, it was an accident," Sasuke replied, bravely. Clearly, he was used to her disproportionate temper. "It won't happen again."

Mikoto seemed mollified. She backed down, her expression changing in an instant. I was amazed by the sudden mood swing. Sasuke seemed unphased.

"Well, I'm gonna go and get dressed," I excused myself, feeling uncomfortable.

"Hmm...Sakura wait a moment!" I paused and turned around to face my dad. "How about you and Sasuke go out and have some brother-sister bonding time?" I died inside, so much for a relaxing Saturday.

"I think that's a wonderful idea!" Mikoto squealed clapping her hands. "Sasuke, you can take Sakura shopping. No arguing!" I gulped and nodded, as much as it was killing me I bit my tongue.

As soon as I was dressed, I met Sasuke in the garage, trying to ignore my dad and Mikoto making out in the kitchen as I walked passed the door. Now I knew why they wanted us out of the house. I shuddered just thinking about it.

"Right Sasuke, let's get this straight before we leave, I don't like you. In fact, I would go as far as to say that I hate you, and I'm pretty sure that you don't like me either, so can we just agree to stay out of each other's way?" I said sharply.

"Hn."

"That is not an answer!" I yelled getting into the passenger side of Sasuke's car. Sasuke got in the driver's side and started the engine. "You're not wearing your seatbelt..." I realised a few minutes into the drive to the mall. Sasuke gave me a look as if to say 'and?'

Without realising exactly what I was doing I leant over him, grabbed his seatbelt and buckled him in it. "There," I sighed.

"Sakura?" I heard Sasuke say and I snapped out of my daze. Did I just do something nice? For Sasuke?

"Shut up!" I snarled, my eyes narrowing.

"I was going to say thanks, but since you're acting like a bitch I won't," he bit back. I huffed and turned to face the window, although I could see him smirking in the reflection on the glass.

I got out of the car as fast as possible once we had pulled into the mall parking lot, hoping to somehow escape him, by wandering off somewhere.

"Hey! Don't run away from me!" He said wrapping me in a hug. "How disrespectful to your big brother!" He teased. I blushed. I could feel his abs through his shirt, why didn't I notice that he was this ripped before?

"Sasuke, people are staring!" I yelped struggling to get free.

"So? I'll let you go if you apologise for ratting me out to mom!" He said holding me tighter. I squirmed uncomfortably. "Say sorry, Sakura!"

"Ok, I'm sorry! JUST GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!" I yelled.

"Tch, it's a start," Sasuke said as he let go of me.

"Idiot," I muttered walking towards the nearest lingerie store hoping to get rid of him. To my horror and great disappointment, he followed me. Trying not to show how embarrassed I was I walked up to one of the shelves and started searching for a bra in my size.

"Would you like a bra fitting miss?" A woman said, startling me.

"No, I'm fine, I know what size I am thank you. I'm just looking for something new," I replied, hoping that the saleswomen would leave me to shop in peace.

"Well, if you or your boyfriend need a hand, let me know," she smiled before walking away.

"He's not my boyfriend, he's my brother!" I called after her. She looked at me in confusion and disgust. I winced, that was not how that sentence was supposed to sound.

I turned back to Sasuke who was looking at me, amused by the situation. I scowled and went back to searching the bras for something that I liked. After two minutes of searching under the intense gaze of Sasuke, I finally turned around.

"What do you want? Just leave me alone, we don't actually have to spend time together you know," I huffed. "You can go do what you want and I'll do what I want we don't have to speak to each other. We can meet in a few hours and then go home."

"Hn," Sasuke replied, shrugging.

I walked over to the other side of the store and hoped that Sasuke would get bored of watching me and leave. I tried my best to ignore him while I shopped and actually ended up picking out a few items. I was on my way to the changing rooms when I saw Sasuke getting friendly with the saleswoman. Suddenly I felt myself getting incomprehensibly angry. They were leaned against the wall standing close to each other and laughing and flirting.

Confused about my sudden anger, I went to the changing room to try on the lingerie that I had picked out. Even in the booth, I could hear the flirtatious laughter. I rolled my eyes and chose the items that I liked best before leaving the changing rooms and heading straight for the till. I tutted as the saleswoman was still giggling with Sasuke, clearly too busy to notice a paying customer.

"Excuse me," I called, but she didn't seem to notice. "Excuse me!" Sasuke and the saleswoman looked up. "I'm ready to pay. If you want to come and do your job?"

I could see the scathing look the saleswoman was shooting me as she pulled herself away from Sasuke and came to ring up my order. She smiled smarmily at me and told me to have a nice day as she handed me my bag. I knew she didn't mean it.

Sasuke waited for me at the door.

"Surprised you can pull yourself away from your new girlfriend there," I said sarcastically. Walking through the mall hoping to get to the carpark as quickly as possible.

"Oh, someone sounds jealous," Sasuke smirked.

I snorted and rolled my eyes. I was not jealous.

"I want to go home now. Are you gonna drive me or give me your keys?" I asked ignoring him.

"I'll drive you, get in," he sighed, opening the car door.

We drove back to the house in silence. I tried to stifle the rage that had been steadily welling up inside me after Sasuke had been flirting with the store clerk. I was being unreasonable and I knew it. I didn't like Sasuke. I couldn't stand to be around him, so why didn't I like him flirting with other women?

Sasuke pulled the car into the garage. I tried the door handle, but the door wouldn't open. I frowned and tried it again, but it still wouldn't open.

"Hey, what's going on? The door's stuck," I turned to Sasuke only to see him staring intently at me. I was about to open my mouth to say something, when Sasuke unlocked the door and got out of the car, leaving me sitting in the passenger seat. I tried that handle again only for the door to swing open with ease. Confused, I followed him into the house.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It's much longer than the first one. Reviews and feedback and appreciated and welcomed. Thanks to those who had reviewed, followed or favourited this story!

If you liked this story, check out my other works!


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura's P.o.v:

"Fuck!" I yelled slamming my hands on the steering wheel of my car. "Stupid piece of junk!" I tried the ignition again and was met with a horrible grinding sound as my engine refused to start. Giving up I got out of the car, kicking the tire and cursing my luck once more before heading back into the house.

The house was in chaos, it seems it wasn't only me who was having a bad morning. Both Mikoto and my dad were rushing around the kitchen and lounge. It had been three weeks since we had moved in and I was just beginning to get used to everyone's routines, as it turned out neither my dad or Mikoto were very organised.

"Morning Sakura," My dad yelled from the living room where he was gulping down a cold cup of coffee while gathering papers off of the coffee table and shoving them in his backpack. I grunted some kind of response, still annoyed by my car troubles.

"Can someone drive me to school? My car's broken down," I asked moodily.

"Sorry Sakura, but I can't take you this morning," Mikoto said looking around for her keys. "I'm super late for my meeting this morning."

"Dad?" I asked hopefully.

"No-can-do kiddo," He replied, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. "I should have left ten minutes ago."

Frustrated, I crossed my arms.

"Go with Sasuke," My dad suggested, ignoring the glare I gave him. "It's just for today. I'll call a mechanic to come to look at your car this afternoon."

The pair of them disappeared into the garage, leaving me with no other choice. Sighing, I marched upstairs and banged on Sasuke's door. He didn't answer. Knowing he would be in the bathroom, carefully styling his hair to look as messy as possible, I went through my room and threw the bathroom door wide open. Sasuke was stood by the sink, gel in hand fixing his hair.

"What?" He asked as moodily as I was feeling. Clearly not a good day for anyone.

"Your mom said that you have to take me to school this morning," I stated, phrasing it perfectly so that he felt like he had no choice.

"Hn. Drive yourself," he replied, raking his and through the back of his hair before washing his hands in the sink.

"My car broke down. You have to take me," I insisted.

"Hn."

Taking that as I yes, I followed him through to his room and then down to the garage. We climbed into Sasuke's car and I hastily buckled my seatbelt and glanced at Sasuke to see him doing the same. I smiled.

"See something you like?" He asked with a smirk on his face. Not in the mood for his teasing, I said nothing and put my i-pod headphones in my ears. Ignorance truly is bliss when you are with Sasuke Uchiha.

"We need to talk about this living together situation," He said loudly after five minutes of silence. I turned down my music and took my headphones out.

"What? Why?"

"I think we should try to get along," he stated without a hint of sarcasm. Seeing my shocked look, he continued. "Look, I hate this as much as you do. But we do have to live together and…" he paused, considering his next words "…you can't deny there is an attraction between us."

"I'm sorry, what?" I replied. That had come out of the blue.

"I'm attractive, you're alright looking," Sasuke replied.

I was unsure if Sasuke was genuinely so arrogant that he didn't quite realise that insulting me was probably not the right way to go about this discussion.

"EXCUSE ME!" I scoffed. "I'm alright looking? I'm better looking than anyone you could ever get!"

"You keep telling yourself that, Sakura," he chuckled. We pulled into the school parking lot. We were early and people were still milling around their cars.

"Whatever, Sasuke. Thanks for the ride," I huffed, sick of his attitude already. I opened the car door and stormed off to find Ino. I was sure Sasuke had been intentionally trying to embarrass me. There was no way that he would ever go for a girl like me. I was surprised by the slight twinge of disappointment I felt.

"Ino!" I called over that chat in the corridor. "Oi Ino!"

"Oh, hey Sakura," my blond best friend grinned. "I wasn't sure if you were coming in today or if you had killed yourself."

"Oh, trust me, it crossed my mind," I grumbled. I spent most of homeroom filling Ino in on the ins and outs of Uchiha life and bitching about my car. I did my best to avoid talking about my confusing feelings about my step-brother.

The final bell rang and I had made my way to the parking lot to wait for Sasuke. I shivered in the November air, pulling my coat tighter around myself. I leaned against the car and waited.

"Where the fuck is he?" I muttered to myself, as Sasuke's phone went to voicemail, again.

I had been waiting for almost an hour when I decided I would rather walk than wait any longer. I picked my bag in off of the ground and started walking. It was a long way to the Uchiha mansion. I shoved my hands in my pockets and hunched my shoulders against the cold.

Around twenty minutes in the walk home, someone honked at me. I looked up, startled only to see Sasuke slowing down ahead of me. I jogged up to the car and Sasuke rolled down the window.

"Thank fuck, I'm freezing," I grinned, walking up to the window.

"I could always warm you up," Sasuke teased. I glared at him, remembering the conversation we had in the car this morning, which I was still pretty sure had been a joke.

"No thanks, I'll walk," I grumbled, walking away from the car.

"Hey, Sakura, C'mon," Sasuke yelled after me, starting the car and driving up along-side me. I ignored him and kept walking. "I was kidding! C'mon if mom finds out I didn't drive you home she'll kill me."

"I'll be sure to look good at your funeral," I yelled over my shoulder, briefly turning around to flip him off.

I could hear Sasuke's frustrated yell and then a moment later he was pulling up alongside me again, crawling the car at my walking pace. I kept staring straight ahead ignoring all of Sasuke's attempts to get me into the car. In fact, I was so focused on ignoring Sasuke that I didn't notice him stop the car and get out. I also didn't notice him walk up behind me. I did, however, notice him grabbing me and throwing me over his shoulder. Shrieking at the top of my lungs, I pounded on Sasuke's back for him to put me down.

"Let me go!" I shouted, drawing attention from passers-by. "HELP! HELP! I'M BEING KIDNAPPED!"

Sasuke sighed deeply and, I assumed, rolled his eyes. I was swiftly and unceremoniously put down in the front passenger seat of Sasuke's car. Before I could escape the door had been slammed shut.

"Hn, don't bother trying to open it," Sasuke said as he climbed back into the driver seat. "I put the child lock on."

I scowled at him and then turned to look out of the window. Secretly a part of me was glad to be in the comfortable leather interior of Sasuke's Volvo. I relaxed my shoulders a little and settled down into the seat as Sasuke started the engine. The heat was blasting through the vents and I closed my eyes thinking about how comfortable my bed would be after spending so long out in the freezing cold.

My pleasant relaxation was ruined all too quickly when I felt a hand on my thigh. I snapped my eyes open and slapped Sasuke's hand away while he mumbled something about missing the gearstick. I kept my eyes open after that, trying to be on full alert.

"Why were you so late today? Busy giving some poor girl an STI?" I asked snarkily. Sasuke scoffed.

"I was in the library," he replied, clearly trying to be civil.

"Oh, I didn't know you could read," I taunted, wondering just how far I could push him before he would snap back at me.

Sasuke shrugged and continued to drive. A little disappointed that I hadn't gotten a rise out of him, I crossed my arms. I saw a flicker of a smirk on Sasuke's face and it irritated me beyond belief.

"I can't believe you kidnapped me," I grumbled.

"It's hardly kidnapping Pinky, we live in the same house," Sasuke retorted, sounding bored. I cringed at the nickname – so unimaginative.

"You snatched me off of the street and bundled me into your car, I hope someone called the police," I replied feeling irritable. "All those people didn't know that we live together. For all they know, you were going to kidnap and murder me or…or…"

"Or keep you in my basement as a sex slave?" Sasuke finished my statement for me. "Don't pretend that wouldn't be fun."

I made a disgusted noise, not knowing what to say in response.

"You're not denying it," Sasuke teased. This time his hand had definitely deliberately been placed on my thigh. I shivered as his fingers grazed my inner thigh. We were pulling into the garage as his hand began to move further and further upwards. I held my breath, curious to see how far Sasuke was going to take this joke of his. I was just about to protest when he pulled his hand away quickly.

My dad and Mikoto were watching us from the back door. Sasuke shot me a look that made me think that whatever had been happening most certainly was not over.

"Hi dad, Mikoto," I greeted, getting out of the car, trying to keep some distance between Sasuke and myself. "Going out?"

"Yes!" Mikoto smiled, "your father is taking me out for dinner and dancing tonight so don't expect us back for a few hours."

"Oh, well have fun," I smiled, nervous at the prospect of spending the evening along with Sasuke. I was very aware of my step brother standing beside me.

"Behave yourself," Dad warned, patting me on the head. It wasn't me he had to warn about behaving, I thought.

As soon as their car was out of sight Sasuke began to approach me a mischievous glint in his eye. Spooked, I took off running for my room. I ran straight through the kitchen, up the stairs and down the hall to my bedroom, but before I could reach my door I hit someone. "How the hell did you get here before me?" I asked. Alarmed that Sasuke had beaten me here when I had set off before him.

"Uhn...who are you?" A deep voice asked, not Sasuke's. I looked up to see a man in his early twenties, who looked so much like Sasuke it was scary.

Before I could answer I heard footsteps getting closer. "Here I come Sakura, ready or not!" I turned around to see Sasuke turn the corner and freeze. Then an incredibly soft expression came onto his face. "Itachi!"

"Hey Sasuke," he said and then he turned to me. "Sorry for ruining your fun. Hide and seek? I'm Itachi Uchiha." Itachi held out his hand pulled me upright again. "Who are you?"

"Oh I'm Sakura Haruno, soon to be Sakura Uchiha," I said smiling sweetly. Itachi was so much nicer than Sasuke could ever be. Itachi looked from me to Sasuke in surprise.

"You're getting married?" He gasped still looking from me to Sasuke.

"No! God no! My dad is marrying your mom!" I corrected, baulking at the thought of marrying Sasuke. "As if I would ever marry that jerk!"

PLEASE REVIEW. I would love to hear your feedback.


	4. Chapter 4

"Mom didn't say you were coming home," Sasuke grunted, ignoring me for the time being.

"You never mentioned this surprising new addition," Itachi retorted, still holding my hand. I felt my face heat up as he looked over me. How had I never known about Sasuke's hot older brother? "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sakura."

"You too," I replied with a coy smile. He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it. Blushing, I snuck a glance at Sasuke who was glaring at his brother with a furious intensity. Itachi dropped my hand, giving me a curious look. I looked between the two brothers, feeling their eyes on me. There was a long moment of silence as we all stood in the corridor watching each other.

"Well, I was just heading out. I'm back for a while, so I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of each other," Itachi grinned at me. I bit my lip and smiled back as he strode passed, poking Sasuke on the forehead before he left.

After a brief moment of awkwardness in the hall, I had made it into the sanctuary of my room. I was sat on my bed, doors all locked, trying to get some peace and quiet. I had been hiding in there for several hours and I was just about to fall asleep why my stomach growled loudly, reminding me that I hadn't eaten since breakfast.

Sighing, I cautiously opened my door and tiptoed down the hall. I was cautious, unsure of what was going on between me and Sasuke, but I couldn't wait until dad and Mikoto came home to get something to eat. I crept past Sasuke's bedroom door pausing to see if I could hear him, the room was silent. Breathing out a sigh of relief, I made my way down to the kitchen. I pulled a packet of biscuits out of the cupboard and made myself some tea.

Rain was tapping on the windows as I waited for the kettle to boil. The sky was getting darker as the sun set and the rain clouds closed in. A loud thunderclap startled me and I screamed, almost dropping my mug. I hated thunder. The next one was louder still and I abandoned my drink and ran back up the stairs to my room.

"Ow!" I yelped as I tripped over the top step, grazing my knee, struggling to see in the dark. Another crash of thunder startled me and I swore, crawling onto the landing.

"Sakura?" I heard Sasuke say through the dark. He fumbled around until his hands found my shoulders. "Sakura, are you ok?" He asked, pulling me up off the floor.

"Uh-huh," I replied, flinching as a flash of lightning lit the corridor.

"Ha! You're scared!" He teased.

The next crash of thunder sent me straight into his arms and as if it was a reflex I buried my head into his chest.

"Shut up, idiot," I muttered, feeling my face growing hot. I took a step away. Sasuke stepped forward, pushing me until my back was pressed against his door.

"Sasuke?" I breathed looking up at his face, I could just make out his features in the half-light. Another flash of lightning lit the hallway and I realised just how close we were. I could feel his hot breath on my face. I could smell him, he smelt like peppermint and lemon zest body wash and I'm ashamed to admit it but it turned me on ever so slightly. "Sasuke…" I repeated, trying to push him away.

Another thunderclap shook the house. The storm was getting closer now and the rain was lashing against the windows the sound of the rain on the glass was deafening. In the dark, I felt Sasuke move closer. The weight of his body pressing me harder against the door.

"Sasuke," I warned. "This isn't funny, let me go."

I was struggling to read his expression in the dark but in a flash of lightning, I saw no hint of mocking on Sasuke's face. I lifted my hand to push him away, but almost instantly he had grabbed my wrist and pushed it back against the door. I struggled feebly beneath his grip.

"Sasuke-"

The thunder closed the space between us. Sasuke's lips were suddenly pressed to mine, muffling my surprised gasp. For a moment I was so stunned that I couldn't kiss back, I was waiting for him to pull away, to laugh at me as if it were some hilarious prank, but he didn't.

I began to kiss back then, hesitantly at first, my head spinning for conflicting emotions. I hated Sasuke Uchiha. I hated him. But man was he a good kisser. Sasuke kissed me feverishly and when his teeth grazed my bottom lip I opened my mouth for him willingly. I couldn't help myself as I curled my fingers into his hair. I had always secretly wondered what that would feel like. Sasuke lifted me, wrapping my legs around his waist and pushing me against the door for support. I complied with every move he made, my heart beating so quickly that I couldn't even feel it anymore. Sasuke's hand was sliding under my shirt and I was beginning to think things were starting to get out of hand.

"Well, this is interesting," Itachi's voice said slyly from just over Sasuke's shoulder.

"Fuck," Sasuke muttered as we untangled ourselves from each other. I tried to slow my breathing, but all I could concentrate on was Sasuke's hand which was firmly gripping my ass.

"What do you want Itachi?" Sasuke said in annoyance. I remained silent still trying to wrap my head around what had just happened.

"I was just heading to bed," Itachi shrugged, a smug smile on his face as he glanced between us. "Goodnight Sakura, Sasuke." He walked past us down the corridor to get to his room.

My face was burning. Seeing my opportunity, I scrambled to get back to my room before anything else could happen. Closing my door behind me I leaned against it, closing my eyes for a moment. Taking a deep breath, I walked over to the bathroom, throwing the door open and knocking on the door leading to Sasuke's room. A few seconds later Sasuke appeared in a pair of black sweats, shirtless. My heart leapt. I swore under my breath.

"Sakura," he said huskily, I looked up to see his black eyes clouded with lust. The interruption in the corridor had clearly not dampened the mood. Now we were alone in the privacy of our rooms who knew what would happen.

Or what you want to happen, I thought, a little disgusted with myself. I focused on Sasuke. Ignoring the nagging of my guilty conscience.

"Sasuke, I think we need to talk about what happened just now," I said firmly, determined to get an answer.

He stepped aside and let me come into his room. The bedside light was dim and the covers were pulled back, he must have just been going to bed.

"If you were sleeping, I can go back to my room," I said hastily. Wincing as the thunder shook the house. In the heat of the moment, I had forgotten about the oncoming storm.

"Sakura, its fine," Sasuke said running a hand through his hair. I nodded and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.

The next second, I could feel his body behind mine. "S-Sasuke!" I gasped when he bit my earlobe playfully. His arms wound around my waist and held me to him as his tongue slid down my neck. "Ahh!" I moaned. "Sasuke…unh…stop it!"

Sasuke ignored my protestations, moving my long hair aside so he could kiss the back of my neck. I felt my knees go weak as he nibbled the skin at the join of my neck and shoulder. Taking a shuddering breath I closed my eyes letting myself give in...

"No!" I yelped suddenly turning around to face my step-brother. "No, Sasuke listen to me."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over my chest - clearly annoyed by my talking. His irritated stance, made me feel a little annoyed, but I tried to remain calm. I took a moment to catch my breath and figure out what I was going to say. Every second that passed seemed to make Sasuke even more irritated. He sighed and tapped his foot impatiently.

"Okay," I began. "I don't know what happened just now, but it absolutely is never going to happen again."

"Hn, whatever."

"I mean it, Sasuke. I'm not interested. We have to live together, sure and yes I'll agree to be civil, but there won't be any more shoving your tongue down my throat in the corridor where anyone could walk by. It's weird and I'm 100% sure that my dad and your mom would not like it," I was beginning to ramble. "You don't even like me. You're just doing it because you're bored."

Sasuke shrugged, barging passed me and climbing into his bed. I took that as the conversation was over. With a deep sigh, I turned and walked out of his bedroom and out into the hall. Thunder rumbled noisily through the house and I winced before stepping back into his bedroom. Looking sheepish, I gave him a feeble smile.

"I know what I just said, and don't take this the wrong way," I paused, feeling like I would regret ever asking, "but can I sleep in here tonight? I'm scared of thunderstorms."

"Yeah, I figured," Sasuke replied, pulling back the covers.

Shakily, I climbed into bed beside him. Feeling a little more comforted by Sasuke's presence I settled myself into a comfortable position. We remained silent, not touching as we stared up at the ceiling. Lightning flashed across the sky, lighting the room periodically, punctuated by loud claps of thunder. I pulled the duvet over my head and tried to fall asleep.

"Thanks, Sasuke," I muttered as I was drifting to sleep.

"Just go to sleep, idiot," Sasuke replied groggily. I smiled and closed my eyes.

Sweetopia: Hope you liked this chapter. I know it's short and it's not my best work, but at least it has some kissing!

Let me know what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

 

I woke early the next morning. The faint light of the morning was illuminating the room. Quietly, I pulled back the covers and stepped onto the floor. I shivered, leaving the warmth of Sasuke's bed. I cast him a glance back over my shoulder as I left. He was sleeping soundly, I wanted to get out of there before he woke up. I snuck back into my own room through the bathroom and locked the door behind me. Rubbing my eyes sleepily, I looked at the clock, it was just before 7 am. Knowing that I wouldn't sleep if I got back into bed, I grabbed my robe and opened my bedroom door.

I wandered through the house, thinking about what had happened the night before. I had no idea where that had come from, one-minute Sasuke was making fun of me and the next we were making out. I couldn't say that I didn't enjoy it, but it was confusing. While my petty childhood grudge against Sasuke was strong, I knew I didn't really hate him. He irritated me, bullied me and toyed with my emotions, but I didn't hate him. That being said, I didn't like him all that much either. 

As I approached the kitchen, I heard movement. I paused, listening to the distinct sound of someone cooking breakfast. Frowning I looked down the hall, seeing the closed bedroom door to my Dad and Mikoto's room I panicked - thinking that we had an intruder. 

"Hello?" I called out. The sounds from the kitchen stopped, but no answer came. I crept closer to the door.

"Morning, Sakura," a voice came from inside the kitchen. I jumped, startled, and edged into the kitchen. Itachi was stood over the stove, cooking breakfast. I hadn't expected Sasuke's brother to be such an early riser.

"Morning," I replied walking into the kitchen. I made my way over to the coffee pot and poured myself a cup, trying to ignore the awkwardness of the situation. I really hadn't been expecting anyone else to be awake. I slipped onto a stool and the breakfast bar and dropped two sugars into my coffee while Itachi continued to bustle around the kitchen.

"D'you want eggs?" he asked.

"Hm?" I looked up from the table which I had been insistently staring at since I had sat down. "Oh no, just coffee is fine for me."

"You sure? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," Itachi said turning around. I felt my cheeks grow pink at the sight of his abs through his open robe, what was with me and inappropriate feelings about my step brothers?

He slid a plate in front of me.

"Thanks," I smiled, picking up a fork. We ate in silence until I couldn't take it any longer. "Hey, Itachi…"

"Yeah?"

"About last night," I paused, desperately trying to avoid eye contact. "What happened with Sasuke…it's not…I mean, I don't…it's never happened before and…I didn't…"

"Don't worry, I get it," Itachi replied reassuringly.

I looked up from the table, "You do?"

"Yeah, you and Sasuke have that weird tension thing going on. You're both young and alone in the house, sometimes things get a little…" Itachi trailed off raising his eyebrow.

"NO!" I exclaimed, shaking my head emphatically. "No! No, it's not like that," I lied. "Sasuke and I, we hate each other. I mean we really don't get on. There is nothing _between_ us."

"Okay," Itachi laughed, clearly not believing me. "Either way, you don't have to worry about me telling anyone."

We went back to eating, but it seemed I had broken the ice. An hour and several cups of coffee later we were talking and laughing as if we had known each other for years.

Itachi was plating me up some more eggs when Sasuke walked into the kitchen. I halted in the middle of laughing at one of Itachi's jokes and watched Sasuke nervously. Sasuke looked between me and his brother.

"Morning, little brother," Itachi grinned, setting another plate in front of me. I jumped as he rested a hand on my shoulder. Sasuke's stoic face flickered into a frown. "You want some eggs? I'm making eggs?"

"Hn," Sasuke replied groggily, sliding into the seat next to mine.

"Ok then," Itachi raised his eyebrows and moved over to the stove, shovelling scrambled eggs onto a plate for Sasuke. He slid the plate in front of his brother and brought the pot of coffee to the table. "More coffee, Sakura?"

I nodded holding out my cup for him. I took a sip and grimaced, needed sugar. Before I had even had the chance to reach for the sugar myself, Itachi had picked up a sugar cube with a sly smirk at me. I chuckled and held out my mug for him to throw the cube in. I laughed as the first cube missed, I held out the mug again.

"Hn, here," Sasuke mumbled dropping a sugar cube into my mug before Itachi could throw another.

"Thanks, Sasuke," I smiled. He ignored me and ate his eggs in silence. It seemed that things were back to normal. Maybe we would never mention what had happened between us again and we could go on living our lives as completely ordinary step-siblings.

Not too much later Dad and Mikoto joined us, though I really didn't care for the blatant sex hair they were both sporting. I shot Sasuke and Itachi a grimace as my dad grabbed Mikoto's ass. Sasuke scowled back at me while Itachi stifled a chuckle.

"Did you have a nice date last night, mom?" Itachi asked sweetly. "I know Sasuke had a really good time while you were out."

Sasuke looked up at his brother sharply and I kicked them both under the table. I shook my head at Itachi, he had promised not to tell anyone, but the temptation to screw over his brother was clearly more enticing.

"Oh, that's nice sweetie, what did you do?" Mikoto asked as she settled herself at the breakfast bar.

"Hn, nothing," Sasuke grunted, needling his brother with a glare. "Tell us about your night, mom."

Mikoto talked for a solid thirty minutes about her evening, all the while my palms were sweaty and my heart was beating rapidly, nervous that at any point Itachi would let slip what he had witnessed. I knew that I could not let him be alone with my Dad either. I had to talk to him alone.

I excused myself after Itachi had gone to get dressed. I stormed up the stairs and banged on his bedroom door and, when he didn't answer, opened the door and barged in.

"Jeez, Sakura, hey!" Itachi reached for a towel to cover himself. I clamped a hand over my mouth as my cheeks turned bright red at the sight of my step brother naked. I had officially seen more of both of the Uchiha brothers than I ever thought that I wanted to.

"Oh god, okay," I covered my eyes, closing the door behind me. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

"It's fine," Itachi chuckled, "you can look now."

I pulled my hand away from my face. Itachi was standing, hands on hips in the middle of the room, a towel wrapped around his waist. I coughed awkwardly and leaned against the door, wanting as much distance between us as possible.

"What did you want?" Itachi asked, crossing his arms.

"Uhm," I paused, all other thoughts had been pushed out of my head. "Uhm…I'm sorry I, uh, I forgot what I wanted to talk to you about. Because I saw you…and you were…and  _it_ …I mean."

"Man, you really are something," Itachi laughed moving to sit on the edge of his bed. He patted the spot next to him and gestured for me to sit down. Hesitantly I crossed over to the bed and perched next to him, trying to gather my thoughts.

"Oh!" I gasped, suddenly regaining my composure. "Oh, I remember!" I touched his shoulder and almost immediately regretted it. "I wanted to talk to you about the thing with Sasuke."

There was a pause and I pulled my hand away from him. Itachi looked at me with a slight frown.

"That you weren't going to tell your mom or my dad about what you saw yesterday? In the corridor?" I continued waiting for him to respond.

"I thought I already said that I wouldn't tell anyone," Itachi said, running his hand through his long hair.

"Yeah, I know, but you came awfully close to talking about it at breakfast," I sighed.

"Oh, that was just to mess with Sasuke. You have nothing to worry about, besides it's more fun this way. Nothing like a good secret to bring people closer together," he chuckled. I shifted uncomfortably on the bed, still not convinced. "I mean it, Sakura, you have my word."

Itachi held out his pinkie finger with a grin. Rolling my eyes, I curled my pinkie around his. Strangely this simple gesture actually made me feel a lot more secure. I let my hand drop and stood up to leave.

"Next time, please just let me answer the door before you come barging in?" Itachi asked and I felt my cheeks heat up. Trying not to think about the sight of him naked, I fumbled for the door handle, eager to be alone where I was much less likely to embarrass myself.

Before I could open it, there was a knock on Itachi's bedroom door.

"Do you want me to get that?" I joked before opening the door.

Sasuke was stood in the doorway, a confused look on his face. I opened my mouth to speak, but Itachi appeared beside me. Sasuke's confused frown deepened as he looked from my red face to Itachi's bare chest. I bit my lip, hoping he wasn't jumping to all the wrong conclusions.

"Hn, I need to speak to you," Sasuke said through gritted teeth. I winced, knowing that he had, in fact, come to the wrong conclusion.

"Sure, do you mind giving me a minute? I was just finishing something up here," Itachi replied, resting his arm over my shoulder, a gesture which he had used during breakfast too. Itachi's grin widened as Sasuke's usually stoic expression was broken.

"Now, Itachi," Sasuke growled, pushing the door open further.

I ducked under Sasuke's arm and out into the hall, not wanting to get in the middle of what was very clearly a family issue.

"Hey, Sakura, I'll see you later," Itachi called after me, laughing as his younger brother shoved him roughly and barged into his room.

* * *

 

"Hey Sakura," Mikoto asked as she twirled my hair around her fingers.

We were sat in the den watching tv that afternoon as she played around with my hair. I had been grateful to spend some time alone with her after the embarrassing encounter with Itachi this morning and the confusing encounter with Sasuke the previous night. It was nice to be away from my stepbrothers.

"Hmm?"

"Do you want to go out tomorrow?" She asked.

"That sounds great," I said, hoping she meant a shopping trip. I had to admit one of the benefits of my dad having a rich, daughterless fiancée was her constant desire to take me shopping. I would never turn down the opportunity for new clothes.

"Wonderful, we can all go together as a family," she beamed. I felt my smile falter.

"All of us?" I asked, already knowing exactly what she meant.

"Yeah, we can go for a walk or something," Mikoto replied. "You and your father and me, Sasuke and Itachi."

* * *

 

Mikoto woke me up early the next morning.

"Ughhh, what time is it?" I grumbled as she shook me awake. Once I was fully awake, Mikoto left to wake the boys. Grumbling about the early hour, I trudged to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready.

An hour later, I emerged from my room feeling almost human – the only thing I was missing was coffee. I traipsed down the stairs and to the kitchen where I found Sasuke and Itachi glaring at each other over the breakfast bar.

Too tired to deal with them, I poured myself a mug of coffee, debating drinking straight out of the pot. Silently I sat down at the breakfast bar and reached for the sugar.

"Aren't you sweet enough, Sakura?" Itachi teased.

"Fuck off," I groaned, not in the mood. I grabbed a handful of sugar cubes and dropped them all into my coffee, feeling like I would need the sugar rush just to get through the next five minutes let alone the whole day.

"Oh, someone isn't a morning person," Itachi chuckled. "Just like Sasuke."

I shot them both a scathing glance, but said nothing and continued to drink my coffee.

"Well this is going to be fun," Itachi said sarcastically.

After a pure caffeine breakfast, I helped load the car with the picnic basket and blankets. Mikoto and my dad seemed to be in a great mood at the prospect of getting some fresh air away from the city. I, on the other hand, could not have been less thrilled. The lake which we were going to was an hour away and in the middle of November, I didn't really fancy sitting on a blanket in the freezing cold. I had been dreading the trip ever since Mikoto had mentioned it.

I climbed into the back seat of the car, jamming my headphones into my ears so I wouldn't have to speak to anyone, and waited to leave. There was a knock on the window of my side of the car and I pushed the button to open it, sighing as the cold seeped in from outside. Sasuke was stood outside, his arms crossed over his chest. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"What?" I asked.

"Hn, move over," he demanded, opening the car door.

"Just go around the other side and get in," I protested, grabbing the door to pull it closed.

Itachi opened the car door on the other side and climbed in. It was only then that I caught on that I would be the one who would have to sit in the middle seat.

"Oh, for fuck sake," I muttered under my breath, scooting over to the middle seat. Sasuke climbed in and took my spot. "I don't see why I have to have the middle seat."

"Well you are the smallest," Itachi pointed out. "Besides Sasuke wouldn't let me have you all to myself."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke snapped at his brother over my head. I shook my head at them both and put my headphones back in to drown out their bickering. The pair of them made me glad that I never had to deal with siblings growing up.

The drive to the lake was long and uncomfortable. Even in Mikoto's spacious range rover, the middle seat was cramped. I tried to keep myself as far away from Sasuke as possible. Every time we touched, I could think of nothing but the way he kissed me and I really didn't want to address those feelings right at that moment.

I found myself sliding towards Sasuke as we rounded a tight bend, desperate to avoid contact I put my hand down gripping onto the seat beside me to keep me anchored. Only, it wasn't the seat beside me. I jolted as Itachi's hand curled over mine, which was squeezing his thigh firmly.

"Sorry," I whispered moving to pull my hand away.

I was surprised when Itachi rested his arm around my shoulders and leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"Don't be," he murmured into my ear. I felt myself shiver.

Sasuke scoffed and turned to scowl out the window. Itachi, seeing my dad shift in his seat to talk to us, pulled away. Confused, I tried to pretend that nothing had happened.

As expected, not many people were insane enough to visit the lake November. We pulled into the empty parking lot of the park and, despite my general dislike of the cold, I could not wait to get out of the car. The tension between Sasuke and Itachi had been mounting to dangerous levels and I had been literally caught in the middle of it.

"Ugh, it's freezing!" I complained for the millionth time as we walked along the trail down through the wood to the lake. I shoved my hands into my coat pockets and stamped my feet.

My dad in Mikoto walked on ahead, in their own little bubble. I trudged miserably behind them while Itachi and Sasuke were ignoring each other behind me.

"Are you not cold?" I called back to them.

"No, do you want my scarf, Sakura?" Itachi offered, picking up his pace to fall into step beside me.

"Sure, thanks," I accepted, letting him wind the scarf around my shoulders.

Sasuke scoffed, barging past us on the trail, practically shoving me into a tree. I rolled my eyes, he had been acting strange all day. Sasuke and I hadn't spoken since I spent the night in his bed. He had been acting more standoffish with me ever since.

"Fucking jerk," I grumbled, as Itachi helped me back onto the trail. "How did you and Sasuke turn out so different?"

Itachi chuckled, watching his younger brother walking away from us. He looked back at me straightening the scarf which he had given me to wear. I blushed as his hand brushed my cheek.

"Sasuke's not so bad," Itachi said, pulling away and walking after his brother. I followed him. "He's jealous."

"Jealous?" I asked, confused. What did Sasuke have to be jealous of, I pondered. Itachi shook his head at my obliviousness. We continued the walk down the trail until it opened out onto the shore of the lake.

It was a beautiful sight, even given the bad weather. We picked our way across the shore for a while as Mikoto hunted for the perfect picnic spot. I tried to keep my complaints to a minimum, but my fingers were growing numb with cold. I shivered, blowing into my cupped hands to warm them.

"Are you ok, Sakura?" My dad asked, noticing my purple lips and blue hands.

"I'm just a bit cold," I replied. He looked so happy, I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was miserable. "I forgot to bring gloves."

"We'll set up the blankets hear and you can get warm," dad suggested. I shrugged, not seeing how sitting still in the freezing cold was going to help me. None the less, once the large picnic blankets were spread out on the pebbly sand of the lake front, I threw myself down onto one and jammed my hands between my thighs to keep them warm.

Mikoto, blissfully ignorant to the inclement weather, passed out sandwiches and hot chocolate. I held my mug between my hands, feeling the stinging heat as blood rushed back into my fingers. Itachi sat down beside me closely followed by Sasuke who sat on my other side. Both of them were too close for comfort, though I could practically feel their body heat radiating from them. I wondered if it was just an Uchiha thing to not feel the cold. I shivered despite the steaming mug of hot chocolate in my hands. My shivering attracted the attention of both of my stepbrothers.

"Hey, mom do we have another blanket?" Itachi asked. "Sakura looks a little cold."

"Oh, sweetie you're blue!" Mikoto exclaimed finally noticing my violent shuddering. She rooted around the picnic bag for a moment before looking up guiltily. "I think I left the other blankets in the car. I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd get this cold."

"It's ok," I said through chattering teeth, but after five more minutes I stood up. "Can I have the car keys? I'll go get the other blankets."

My Dad tossed me the keys without me having to ask twice.

"Hn, I'll come too," Sasuke suggested, standing up. I shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. This could be my chance to talk to him about our kiss.

"Me too, let's give these two lovebirds some space, shall we?" Itachi chimed in.

I immediately felt Sasuke tense up. The prospect of having to walk thirty minutes with both of the brothers seemed dismal while Sasuke was in such a foul mood, but I didn't blame Itachi for not wanting to be around my dad and Mikoto, they had been particularly physical lately. The three of us set off up the trail through the woods. We weren't even out of earshot before our parents were warming up themselves. I pulled a face and hurried on up the trail, hoping to be out of sight of the happy couple. Finally, out of hearing range, I slowed my pace down to a steady walk and rubbed my hands together.

"Thank fuck!" I sighed as we approached the parking lot. Pulling the keys out of my pocket, I unlocked the trunk and climbed inside, grabbing the bag of blankets. I wrapped one around me, longing to shut the door and take a nap.

"Wow you really must be cold," Sasuke commented as I clung to the blankets for dear life. He sat on the edge of the trunk and glanced back at me. "I could warm you up if you like?"

I tried to figure out if he had been serious or not, the obvious innuendo was clouding my judgement. Sasuke shuffled back into the trunk with me, taking hold of my freezing cold hands. I sighed at the warmth of him and closed my eyes.

"Thank you," I murmured. "Sasuke…?" I asked opening my eyes.

"Hn?"

"About…the other night…" I began. "That was weird, right?"

Sasuke smirked leaning towards me. I felt my cheeks heat up.

"Why? Did you like it?" Sasuke asked, moving even closer. I didn't know how to respond. Seeing my confused face, Sasuke broke out into laughter and I knew he had been teasing me. I frowned, pouting, but a little relieved that we had returned to our usual dynamic.

"You're a jerk," I punched his arm playfully.

"Good to see you two are back to normal," Itachi commented as he approached. Sasuke dropped my hand quickly. "No more fucking in the hallway then?"

"Fuck off," Sasuke grunted, climbing out of the trunk and stalking off towards the woods, back to the lake I assumed.

"Why do you have to antagonise him like that?" I asked as Itachi shuffled into the trunk, grabbing a blanket from the bag beside me and draping it over his legs.

He shrugged, "it's fun."

I glanced at him shyly out of the corner of my eye. We were quiet for a few moments, staring out into the grey countryside. I was still shivering.

"We should head back," I broke the silence, pulling the blankets off of me and shoving them into a bag. Itachi folded up his banked and handed it to me. Together we locked up the car and headed back down the trail to the lake.

I adjusted the bag of blankets over my shoulder, feeling it digging into the skin through my coat. We were quiet as we walked, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Occasionally I snuck a glance at my other step-brother over my shoulder, wondering how he could have turned out to be so nice in comparison to his younger brother. Why couldn't I have made out with him instead?

My internal monologue was interrupted by the sight of Sasuke walking back up the trail towards us, a disgruntled look on his face. He slowed down as he approached us, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Are you alright?" I asked, looking as Sasuke glared directly at his brother.

"Hn, fine. You guys have been gone a while," he replied, not taking his eyes off of his brother. I looked between them in confusion.

"We were getting to know each other a little better," Itachi remarked, smiling cockily and resting his arm over my shoulder. This was the third time he had done that and I was unsure what the gesture meant. I stiffened, uncomfortably.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again, thinking better of it.

"We're heading back down now, are my dad and Mikoto…" I trailed off, wrinkling my nose. Sasuke shrugged in response. I ducked out from Itachi's arm and started off down the trail, puzzled by the uncomfortable exchange.

Behind me, I could hear Sasuke and Itachi talking in low voices. I strained my ears, trying to overhear their conversation, but the sound of the wind crashing through the trees muffled their words. Sighing, I was ready for the day to be over.

**Sweetopia: That's all for now folks! Will update again soon, in the meantime check out some of my other stories. Please review, your comments mean a lot to me.**

**xoxo**


	6. Chapter 6

I slowed as I rounded a corner where the trail emerged from the woods jutting out over the lake to form a low cliff. I paused to admire the view. Ignoring the increasing volume of my step-brother's conversation as they approached and the cold sting of the November wind against my cheeks, I watched the sunlight glittering off of the surface of the water. The crunching of footsteps and the sound of raised voices drew closer. I turned my back to the lake.

"Fuck you," Sasuke swore at his brother as they came into view.

The pair were shoving and swearing, their earlier bickering had clearly turned nasty, as they stumbled along the trail towards me. I rolled my eyes, once again thankful that I didn't grow up with a sibling. Dodging a stray shove as they passed me, I took a step back onto the rocky ledge.

"Hey, watch it!" I chided as my heel skidded on the loose pebbles.

The boys ignored me and continued trying to push one and other up to the edge of the cliff. On the narrow ledge, I watched nervously as they wrestled each other. Itachi gained the upper hand, pulling Sasuke's arms behind his back and pushing him closer to the edge.

"Guys, I don't think that's very safe," I called, eyeing the ledge cautiously. The drop was small no more than ten feet, but the dark water of the lake swirled ominously below.

"Oh, come on, Sakura," Itachi laughed as he held a struggling Sasuke in place. "I'm not gonna drop him."

Sasuke muttered something under his breath and furiously kicked at his older brother's legs. Unconvinced about the safety of the situation, I decided to keep an eye on them instead of walking on.

"Say you're sorry," Itachi instructed as he held his brother closer to the edge.

Sasuke shook his head, his feet skidding over the pebbles as he tried to push himself backwards. Itachi repeated himself, refusing to relent. I hovered close by, certain that the situation was getting out of hand.

"Ok, enough now," I tried to be stern. They were so close to the cliff edge that my heart had begun to speed up nervously. "Let him go and come back from the edge."

Itachi rolled his eyes and released his grip on Sasuke's arms, but not before a final joking shove. Sasuke wobbled alarmingly at the edge of the cliff, his eyes widening as he careened forwards. I lunged for him even before I knew what I was doing. My feet kicked a spray of pebbles off of the edge of the cliff as I pitched myself towards him. To my relief, Sasuke righted himself and fell back to the dirt. I, on the other hand, was not so fortunate. I tried to stop myself, but my feet skidded over the gravel as I pitched forwards, my hand narrowly missing Sasuke's as I stumbled.

The sensation of stepping off of the ledge was certainly unpleasant, I let out a shriek as I slipped from solid ground, but plunging into the freezing lake was worse by far. In less than a second, I was fully submerged. The cold water knocked the air out of my lungs. Itachi 's scarf twisted around my face, obscuring my vision and I frantically tugged at it, struggling to kick my way back to the surface. My heavy coat dragged me further down into the deep. Fighting the rising panic, I fumbled with the zip but my fingers were numb from the cold water.

I sunk to the bottom, my feet kicking up clouds of silt as I pushed myself back up. I was certain that I was never going to reach the surface when I felt the cold wind on my face and I opened my eyes in disbelief. The murky water stung my eyes and I swiped at my face, all the while taking grateful gulps of air.

"...Shit, Sakura...are you..." The sound of yelling from up on the cliff suddenly became clear and I realised that I couldn't have been under for more than a few seconds. "Are you alright!?"

"I think so," I shouted back, my voice was hoarse and I coughed a little water from my throat. My vision was clearing and I could see Sasuke peering over the edge at me.

I scanned the water for a way out, but there was nothing but the crumbling rockface which I had fallen from. I tried not to panic at the thought of how far away the closest shoreline was, but the cold water was already sapping strength from my limbs. I knew I had to get out fast. Frightened, I clawed at the rock in an attempt to pull myself from the water. The frozen earth of the cliff face fell apart in my hand, showering me with dirt.

"I can't get back up!" I yelled at no one in particular, as I tried again to haul myself out of the water.

"Hold on a second," I heard Itachi call down to me though I couldn't see him.

Within seconds a makeshift rope made of blankets hit the water a metre or so to my right. I reached out for it, my numb fingers gripping the fabric as tightly as I could manage, and pulled it close. It was relief that I had dropped the bag of blankets before I threw myself off of the cliff. 

"I really hope you're not heavy," Itachi laughed nervously. "Hold on really tight."

I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt the rope pull tight. Eager to be out of the water I pulled myself up with my arms, bracing my feet on the crumbling dirt of the cliff. It took an agonizing minute before I was able to reach the top.

Two strong pairs of hands grabbed my arms, hauling me back onto the clifftop. I lay shivering on the ground as my stepbrothers tried to pull me further from the edge. Glad to be out of the water, I felt my erratic heartbeat slow.

"Sakura, don't go to sleep," Itachi snapped. I opened my eyes suddenly, unaware that I had even closed them. Both the boys were looking at me with concerned expressions. "We need to get you undressed."

"Ha!" I laughed, now that I was out of danger the situation felt so unnecessarily dramatic. "Nice try, but that isn't happening."

"You're soaked through and freezing. You have to get undressed. "

I listened to Itachi's firm voice and decided that he might be right. I reached for the zip on my coat but my numb fingers struggled to open it. All the while my shivering was growing more violent.

"Sasuke, you undress her. I'll go get mom," Itachi instructed, his voice authoritative but calm. Sasuke hesitantly obeyed, and Itachi sprinted off down the trail.

I felt stiff and awkward as Sasuke pulled off my clothes. He avoided eye contact as he unbuttoned my jeans and his nervousness made me feel a little better as I sat shivering in my underwear. It was only when Sasuke began removing his own clothes that I began to panic.

"Wha…what are you going?" I shrieked, averting my eyes as he pulled off his shirt and jeans.

"Hn, body heat," he said quickly. "Now come here before you freeze."

I shuddered in the cold for a moment, knowing that he was right, before scooting closer to him. Sasuke wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and pulled me to his chest, sucking in a breath at the contact of my cold skin against him. His skin felt like fire in comparison to my own and I was thankful when he held me tightly to him. I clung onto him, my embarrassment was forgotten for the sake of warmth. I shuddered and Sasuke reached for another blanket.

"Hn, Sakura you're holding a little too tight," Sasuke muttered in my ear.

I relaxed my grip, hugging myself instead. My teeth chattered noisily, filling the silence, as we waited for help to arrive. I couldn't help but let my mind wander as we sat so closely together. The string of less than pure thoughts which entered my mind heated me up more than Sasuke's body heat ever could. I glanced up at him nervously, wondering if he knew what I was thinking about. I shifted awkwardly and Sasuke's eyes fluttered closed for a moment, his lips pursed.

"Can you ever sit still?" he grumbled as I continued to fidget.

"I'm cold. It's called shivering."

Sasuke sighed, his arms tightening around me as he held me still. I was about to struggle when he rested his chin on the top of my head – a gesture which I found strangely comforting. What was not so comforting was the firm pressure of something against my lower back. For a moment I frowned, wondering if somehow a stick had become lodged between us until it finally clicked what exactly I was feeling.

"Ugh! Let me go, you sick pervert!" I cried elbowing Sasuke in the ribs, hard. He swore loudly but refused to let me go.

"Calm down."

"I will not," I protested. "What, so, me being soaking wet and freezing cold turns you on now?"

Despite my accusation, I was a little pleased that Sasuke clearly had been thinking the same sort of things that I had. I struggled again, feeling Sasuke tense as I rubbed against him.

"If you just stop moving around!" Sasuke hissed. I glared up at him but remained still. There was a tense moment of silence between us, and I knew it was only a matter of seconds before one of us kissed the other – it was only a question of who would break first.

The sound of running footsteps broke the tension and my dad came crashing off of the trail, with Itachi and Mikoto not too far behind.

"Are you alright?" my dad asked, ignoring for the moment that I was clinging to a half-naked boy.

"I'm fine."

"We should call an ambulance," Mikoto chimed in, her voice panicked.

"I said I'm fine."

My dad and Mikoto were talking over me now, both frantic. I took a deep sigh and looked to Itachi for help. Itachi, though initially concerned for my safety now seemed more interested in the closeness of Sasuke and I. I could see by the slight smirk that he was impressed, if not a little envious, by his little brother's ability to get me to wrap myself around him. I shook my head at him, disappointed that he would be so immature.

"I'm fine!" I protested again as an ambulance was mentioned for the second time. Now that I was in the relative safety of Sasuke's arms, I was more embarrassed about tumbling off of a cliff than anything else. All I wanted was to go home and go to bed.

My dad knelt down in front of me, pressing his hand to my forehead and furrowing his brow in concern. Then he looked at me as though he was finally seeing fully what was in front of him. I watched as he tried to control the rage which came over him as he saw Sasuke, naked from what he could see, holding me, also visibly undressed, very tightly.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?" My dad asked, in an even voice. I tried to control my face, but a smug grin was fighting its way onto my cheeks. Sasuke was gonna get in so much shit.

"Sasuke told me to take all my clothes off and get really close to him. Then he wouldn't let me go, even when I struggled," I said innocently, knowing exactly what I was doing. 

"She was all wet!" Sasuke blurted out, not helping himself in the slightest. 

* * *

"I can't believe you tried to get me in trouble," Sasuke scowled at me across the back seat. After my dad had finished shouting at Sasuke, Mikoto had talked him down. It had been funny to see Sasuke so flustered. Even now, we were told to sit on different sides of the car with Itachi in between as a buffer.

"I can't believe you took advantage of me," I retorted, leaning around Itachi to stick out my tongue at Sasuke. Childish, I know.

"I was trying to help and you know it."

We both fell silent as our parents got into the car.

I adjusted the blanket which was wrapped over my legs, making sure I was appropriately covered. My clothes were bundled, still soaking wet, in plastic bags in the trunk. All I had on was my underwear and several blankets to keep me decent.

"Are you sure you feel alright, honey?" Mikoto asked, turning around in her seat to look at me. Now that I had been sat in a warm car, I almost felt as though I hadn't been dunked into a freezing cold lake only an hour before. I assured her, once again, that I was perfectly fine now and we began the long drive back to the house. The car was tensely silent as we drove back home. I kept my eyes on the view outside my window as the scenery rolled past.

I was acutely aware of Itachi's steady gaze and, I could feel the gentle caress of his fingers along the exposed skin of my thigh. If it was on purpose, it was a bold move. I dared to glance down, and saw that he was drumming his fingers rhythmically on his leg – it had been an accident after all. Or so I thought. After a minute or so I felt his hand on my leg, a definitive squeeze and the shiver-inducing feeling of his fingers grazing along my thigh under the blanket. I fought the urge to yelp and turned sharply to look at him, my cheeks flushed.

Itachi raised his eyebrow as I shot him a confused look. He withdrew his hand, but not before attracting the attention of his younger brother. Sasuke watched in mute rage as his brother draped his arm around my shoulders. I stiffened at the casual touch, unsure if Itachi was just a very physical person or if there was more to this than I had first thought. Itachi grinned at his brother, seeming to get the reaction he had hoped for.

The weird tension in the car persisted until we pulled into the garage of our house. I bolted at the first chance I got, making an excuse that I wanted to take a shower and get warm. I ran to my room, clutching tightly to the blankets I had wrapped around me.

The first thing I did, once I had locked myself safely in my room, was call Ino.

"Hello, Ino Yamanaka speaking," Ino answered politely.

"Ino, it's me," I stated, confused as to why she had answered so formally.

"Wait, Sakura? What number are you calling from?"

I chuckled when I realised that I had called her from the landline in my room. My cell phone had been destroyed in my unfortunate swim in the lake this afternoon. "It's a long story."

It took an hour on the phone before I had explained the day's events.

"Wow," Ino replied, though she sounded a little distracted. "So, the older brother is hot huh? Why don't I remember him?"

"Is that seriously what you're taking away from this story?"

"What? You fell in a lake, but you're fine. That's not news Sakura, hun, but an attractive older guy who clearly wants to fuck-"

"Ino!" I gasped, though I wasn't really shocked by my best friend. She had said far more disgusting things over the course of our friendship. "Besides…it's a little more complicated than that."

There was a pause and I knew I had piqued her interest. "Oh, go on."

"Itachi might have seen Sasuke and I making out…" I dragged the sentence out as much as possible, cringing even as I said the words. The thought of it made me feel wrong.

"Sakura Haruno! You little slut!"

"Oh, please don't make a big deal out of it!" I whined, holding the phone away from my ear and Ino screamed on the other end of the line. "It was a one-time thing. I think…"

"I can't believe you made out with Sasuke!" Ino squealed. "I thought you guys hated each other! Tell me everything."

It took another half an hour of reluctant explanation and a thorough questioning before Ino was satisfied with the answers I had given her.

"So…do you think that now Itachi thinks you're easy?" Ino asked, her voice practically dripping with delight. She had always been more mature than me when it came to boys as we had grown up. Her excitement was to be expected, anytime I had done anything remotely sexual with a guy, Ino had been the first to know and the most enthusiastic about it.

I frowned, did Itachi think I was going to be easy?

"I mean, it doesn't matter, he sounds dreamy," Ino continued talking before I had the chance to answer. "I think you should fuck him."

"You think I should fuck everyone," I retorted.

"Well, you should! Better him than Sasuke, surely."

I hesitated. Itachi certainly was attractive, and the allure of an older guy was certainly intriguing but there was something between Sasuke that I wasn't quite sure I was ready to let go of just yet. I definitely didn't  _like_  Sasuke. But that didn't mean I didn't enjoy it when he pinned me against the wall and kissed me until I was breathless.

"Yeah…" I replied distracted by the thought of either of the brothers kissing me when I suddenly came to my senses. "But it's wrong! They're my step-brothers!"

"Oh, come on, don't be a prude Sakura. It's not like you're actually related."

I was about to respond when a knock on my door interrupted me.

"Hold on a minute."

I walked over to my door and opened it. Mikoto was stood in the hall with a steaming mug of hot chocolate in her hands. She looked at me sheepishly and held it out.

"Do you want to come downstairs? Your dad and I are watching a movie," she asked.

I felt like declining, but the soft look on my step-mother's face was hard to say no to. I knew that she felt guilty about what had happened at the lake, considering that she was the one who had planned the trip and that this was her way of making it up to me.

Not wanting to upset her, I told Ino that I would call her back and followed Mikoto downstairs.

**Sweetopia: That's all for today. Hope you liked it. I also have a few one shots planned which I want to get out to you soon.**

**I have also been toying with the idea of one-shots/personalised short fics for commission if anyone wants to hit me up. They'll be proofread and a lot more carefully curated of course. Let me know what you think.**

**Drop me a review for this chapter or DM me your thoughts. I always appreciate your feedback!**

**XOXO**


	7. Chapter 7

It was December and the holiday season was in full swing. It felt strange to be celebrating Christmas in a house other than my own and, though I had come to think of the Uchiha's house as a home, I had begun to feel a little homesick. Ino had provided me with a little home comfort, she was one constant in my life which never changed.

We were driving home from school late one Friday evening, the stereo blaring out as we scream-sang along to Christmas songs on the radio. Ino noticed me grow quiet as she turned down the long driveway of the Uchiha house.

"What's up?" she asked, reaching to turn down the radio.

I sighed and shrugged. There was nothing wrong perse. How was I supposed to explain what was wrong when even I didn't know? She left the radio turned down low as we drove up to the house. Ino pulled into the garage. She looked at me seriously before shutting off the engine. "Alright, Forehead, hat's going on with you?"

"Nothing," I denied. "I'm just a bit homesick."

Ino nodded solemnly but didn't press me any further. We sat in the car in silence for a little while before I was ready to go inside. As we sat, I scanned the rest of the garage. Both Itachi's and Sasuke's cars were in the driveway but there was no sign of my father's. It filled me with dread to know that when I got inside there would only be the three of us - it made it so much harder not to be caught alone with one of them. Ever since our 'family' lake trip, my relationship with my stepbrothers had been tense. I had avoided them as best as I could, but even around our parents, their behaviour flirted with the boundaries of inappropriate.

"Are you coming in?" I asked reaching for the door handle.

Ino had been hesitant about coming to the Uchiha's house and had yet to actually step foot inside. It made me laugh, Ino had never been the shy type.

She looked at the house and chewed on her bottom lip. "Yeah, okay."

"Really?"

"As long as you're sure Ms Uchiha won't mind."

I laughed and opened the car door without answering her. It seemed so comical that Ino seemed to be imagining Mikoto as a scary woman when she couldn't be further from intimidating if she tried. Though, I suppose if all I had known about her was that she was crazy rich and had Sasuke as a son, I might have thought badly of her too.

Ino followed me tentatively through the garage and up the steps to the back door. I kicked off my shoes as I entered, letting them fall haphazardly on the floor by the door. Ino removed hers carefully and set them neatly down. I rolled my eyes but kept any remarks to myself. 

Listening carefully, I tried to figure out if there was anyone in the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Ino asked loudly. I shushed her angrily, knowing my cover was blown.

"I was trying to hear if anyone was in the kitchen," I explained in a hushed voice. "But you just let the whole house know that we're here."

True to form, there the sound of someone walking down the hall towards us. I short Ino and harsh glare.

"Oh, Sakura. You're back from school late," Itachi grinned, leaning against the wall. "Who's your friend?"

"This is-"

"I'm Ino, a pleasure to meet you," Ino interrupted me before I could introduce her. She looked Itachi up and down approvingly, her shyness apparently forgotten.

"We were just going upstairs," I explained, grabbing my friend's arm. Ino squirmed in my grip, clearly eager to remain where we were.

"Don't let me keep you," He shrugged.

I practically had to drag Ino up the stairs, ignoring Itachi as he stood at the bottom, watching us walk away. I was still struggling to figure Itachi out. He wavered between a kind and friendly or sensual and lusting – and could change his mood within seconds. As he watched us, I chanced a glanced back over my shoulder and caught his gaze. I could tell from the glint in his eyes what mood he was in.

"Keep walking," I whispered to Ino, turning away from my stepbrother.

Once we were out of view of the staircase, Ino pushed me into the wall.

"Ow!"

"Oh, shut up!" Ino rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips, staring at me intensely. "What the hell was going on there?"

"Where?" I asked, trying to keep my voice low, just in case Sasuke was in his room or, equally as likely, Itachi was still stood at the bottom of the stairs listening.

"Back there! With the sneaking around and the weird tension and the _staring!_ " Ino practically shrieked. I shushed her frantically, even if Sasuke wasn't in his room, Itachi most definitely heard us from the bottom of the stairs.

I beckoned her to follow me to my room, pressing one finger to my lips. Only once the door was closed did I remove it, prepared for Ino's tirade of excited jabbering. I was surprised to be met with silence.

Ino was stood gawping. I furrowed my brow, confused. Then I realised that this was the first time Ino had actually seen my bedroom. It was a huge step up from the tiny room she was used to seeing me in. I shrugged self-consciously.

"This is incredible!" Ino blurted, rushing to the other side of the room and jumping onto my bed. She hugged one of the many throw cushions to her chest. "Well done, Kizashi."

"Hah, yeah," I chuckled, crossing my arms and taking a seat on the chaise lounge at the end of the bed. "It's…it's a lot, but I'm used to it now."

Ino sat up and crossed her legs, eyeing me curiously. I looked around my bedroom, feeling guilty for wishing that I was back in my old room. There was a long drawn out silence before Ino got over her amazement at my new, lavish lifestyle.

"So, Itachi?" Ino raised her eyebrow.

I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"Oh come on, Sakura!" Ino pleaded. "There has to be something going on there, he looked at you like he wanted to-"

"Ino, don't you dare finish that sentence," I warned. Ino closed her mouth, pouting. I sighed, deeply before continuing, "I'm not sure what's going on."

Ino hugged the cushion tighter, holding in the stream of comments she was waiting to make. I took her silence as a cue to tell more.

"Nothing has happened, so don't go getting all excited," I stressed the point, it was something I had to make absolutely clear or Ino would get all sorts of fanciful ideas. "But, there's a weird… _thing_ going on between Itachi and me and…Sasuke and me…" I hesitated, Ino made a little squeak of excitement, nodding eagerly for me to continue.

"I don't know," I shrugged. Maybe I was making something out of nothing. "They're both very touchy."

Ino pressed two fingers to her lips, her brows furrowing in thought. I waited for her response, but she remained quiet. Frustrated, I laid back to stare at the ceiling.

"Like, I know that Sasuke doesn't like me. He only ever does anything to irritate the life out of me. But Itachi… I don't know, he's _weird_. One minute he's being all friendly and funny – like a brother – and then the next he's touching me and stuff…Nothing major, just an arm around my shoulder or once he squeezed my thigh..."

"Okay…" Ino was calmer than I had been expecting. Maybe I really was reading more into it than there was. "And this all happened when?"

"Well, after he caught me and Sasuke kissing in the corridor…and I walked in on him while he was naked…" I thought back, saying the words more casually than I maybe should have, given the outraged shriek that came out of Ino.

"WHAT!"

"Oh, Ino no, it wasn't…wait you knew about Sasuke kissing me," I sat up. I was certain I had told Ino about it. She had teased me unmercifully for at least a weak afterwards.

"You saw him naked? Wait, which him? Sasuke or Itachi?" Ino questioned.

"Oh, uh, Itachi."

Ino threw the cushion at my head. I glared at her, unimpressed, but understanding. Ino lived for gossip, and stories like this made her day - possibly even her week.

"How could you not tell me!" Ino whined. She fussed for a little longer before she settled down. "What was it like?"

I sighed but answered her none the less.

* * *

 

It was getting dark when Ino's questioning came to an end. I starred up at the ceiling from the couch in my room, my brain buzzing with excitement. Ino shifted under my legs, drumming on my knees to get me to move. I brought my legs to my chest so she could stand up.

"Where are you going?"

"Bathroom," she replied, making her way over to the bathroom door.

I shrugged and turned on the TV, flicking through the channels absently. The sounds of a mindless reality tv show filled the silence of my bedroom. Then an ear-piercing scream. I leapt up from the couch and sprinted to the bathroom door, knowing that Ino was the only person in the house capable of producing a sound that loud.

I banged on the door.

"Ino, are you alright? I'm coming in!"

I pulled open the door, expecting her to have seen a spider or something, and came face to face with a startled Ino. The other door to the bathroom was open, and a surprised looking Sasuke stood in the doorway.

"Oh, shit, sorry. I forgot to mention that I share the bathroom," I apologised.

"You forgot to mention?!" Ino yelled. "What if he had walked in while I was  _on_  the toilet?"

Sasuke crossed his arm, giving me a smug look. I frowned at him. It was the first time I had seen him for more than a few seconds, in the last week.

"Well, did you not think, hey, what's this other door?" I asked sarcastically. I knew Ino wasn't really mad, just dramatic. Ino stormed passed me in a huff. I turned to Sasuke. "Sorry, about that. My bad, I guess."

"Hn, whatever," he replied. It had been weeks since we had had such an awkward encounter. My avoidance tactics had only seemed to make it more awkward. I pursed my lips and backed out of the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I heard the latch click as Sasuke locked it.

"Food?" I suggested, trying to mellow Ino out. She followed me down to the kitchen, her arms still crossed.

I glanced out the window by the front door, hoping to see my dad's car in the driveway. He was working late. I sighed and pulled Ino towards the kitchen. I jumped when I saw Itachi stood over the stove. I stopped abruptly and Ino crashed into my back, sending me stumbling noisily into the room.

Itachi looked up from the pan he was stirring. "Ah, hello girls."

"Hi," Ino grinned, practically licking her lips. I rolled my eyes at her. Despicable.

"Hi," I sighed. "What are you cooking?"

Whatever it was, it smelled really good. I wandered over, my days of sneaking around had already been foiled by my loud mouth best friend, no sense in hiding now. Ino took a seat at the breakfast bar, watching me with a coyly. I shook my head at her. Itachi moved aside so that I could stand next to him. The sudden closeness made me feel strangely nervous, especially with Ino scrutinising my every move.

"Just some curry, you want some?" he asked, giving the mixture another stir as he sprinkled in some seasoning.

"Uh, sure," I replied, my stomach rumbling. "Will there be enough for Ino too?"

Itachi lifted the spoon from the pan, blowing on it gently, before holding it out to me. I reached out to take the spoon, just as Sasuke walked into the kitchen. He mumbled a hello and looked over at him, distractedly. I lightly brushed Itachi's arm with my fingers, missing the spoon completely. Suddenly Itachi's hand was tucked gently under my chin as he spoon-fed me a mouthful of curry. I let my hand, which at this point had been hovering in thin air, fall – my eyes wide in surprise. I closed my mouth around the spoon and cast a shocked glance at Ino and Sasuke. Itachi pulled my chin, directing my gaze to his face. We locked eyes and I could help but blush.

"How does that taste?" He asked, pulling the spoon of my mouth. I nodded in response, my mouth full. It did taste good, even if the delivery of it was unusual. Itachi smiled, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. I repressed a shudder, surely, I couldn't be the only one who thought that was more sensual that it had needed to be? What the hell was wrong with me?

Ino coughed loudly, bringing both our attention back to the rest of the room.

"Oh," I mumbled, remembering where we were. "Hi, Sasuke. Your…uh your brother made curry."

Ino gave me a judging look. I winced, not knowing how to make the situation less uncomfortable. I took a step away from Itachi, feeling that a bit of distance was appropriate. Sasuke glared at his older brother, who grinned back. I looked between them, not liking the challenging look in their eyes.

I took a seat at the table next to Ino as Itachi gathered some bowls from the cupboard. She nudged me under the table and my phone buzzed in my pocket. Subtle.

_Well, that was weird._

I rolled my eyes, understatement.

_Tell me about it. Do u see what I mean now?_

Before Ino could respond, Itachi placed a bowl in front of me, resting his hand on my shoulder as he asked Ino a question. I snuck a glance across the table at Sasuke, who scowled back at me. I picked up my fork and began filling my mouth – eager not to have to speak or sit through too much conversation. I wanted to eat and leave as quickly as possible. In my haste, I burned my mouth. Gasping, I dropped my fork and put a hand to my mouth – rushing to get a glass of water.

"Are you alright, forehead?"

I gulped down a few mouthfuls of water, feeling it dripping down my chin, before I answered, "Yeah, I just burned my mouth a bit."

"Hn, eat slower then, you pig," Sasuke muttered under his breath as I took my seat. I kicked him under the table.

"Let it cool for a bit," Itachi suggested, as I picked up my fork again. I placed it down beside my bowl and pursed my lips. Ino blew delicately on her own forkful, before putting it in her mouth.

"Mmmm, fuck, that's good," she complimented. Itachi laughed at her outspokenness, clearly flattered.

I would have been content to eat in silence, but Ino had other ideas. She struck up a conversation with the older Uchiha brother, filling the tense silence with mindless chatter. It was Ino's chattiness which had always irritated Sasuke, I recalled, and true to form he looked more annoyed with every word she spoke.

"Sakura never mentioned how cute you were," Ino flirted, almost making me choke on my curry. What was she doing?

"Oh," Itachi, smirked, running a hand through his long hair. "Didn't she?"

Sasuke scoffed at his older brother's cocky attitude. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Why did she have to bring me into this?

"Maybe it's because I don't think he's cute," I replied, shovelling a forkful of food into my mouth. Sasuke sniggered, earning himself a playful slap on the back of his head from Itachi.

"No, you're right, I think she described you as…oh what was it Sakura?" Ino teased, a wicked glint in her eye. I shook my head at her, silently begging her not to repeat what I had told her. "Intimidatingly sexual," Ino finished. My face was most likely pinker than my hair. I hid my face in my hands.

"Oh, wow," Itachi chuckled, his cheeks showing the faintest hint of a blush.

"I didn't say that," I denied. "Ino think she's being funny. Not everyone gets her humour."

It seemed no matter how much I denied it the damage had already been done. God damn you, Ino Yamanaka

"Well, I'd best be getting home," Ino chirped, evidently pleased with herself. "Night Sakura… _night boys…_ "

She excused herself from the table before I could say a word, leaving her food half eaten on the table. 

"I'll walk you to the door," I muttered, stumbling after her, my legs feeling shaky. Ino flicked her blonde ponytail over her shoulder as she left the room. We didn't speak until we were outside. "Ino, what the actual fuck?"

"What?"

"You know what! Why did you have to tell him that?" I demanded as we made our way down the driveway to her car.

"I thought it would make things more fun," she grinned. "Now you might fuck him."

"No, Ino. Now I'm going to die of embarrassment," I huffed, leaning on the side of her car as she climbed into the driver's seat. "And now you're bailing on me. I have to go back in there and finish having dinner. God knows what else is going to-"

"Oh relax," Ino shook her head at me. "Besides, it's a sure fire way to drive Sasuke crazy."

"Sasuke? What are you talking about?"

"Oh I know when someone is jealous and boy, Sasuke was practically green when Itachi was mouth fucking you with that spoon," she rolled her eyes. I gasped at her crass phrasing, but maybe she was right? "Just think about it, forehead, okay? I really have to go, my mom wanted me home like an hour ago, oops."

"Bye, Ino," I sighed, slamming her car door.

I lingered on the driveway as she drove away, despite the freezing air, not wanting to have to go back inside and deal with the embarrassment. I hoped that my dad would be home soon, that was a surefire way to calm down any situation. 

Unable to stand the cold any longer, I trudged my way back into the house, fulling intending to pretend that nothing had happened. I walked into the kitchen with my head held high. Sasuke and Itachi were sat eating in silence. I grimaced at the loud sound of my chair scraping across the tiles. I picked at what remained of the food in my bowl. All the while the silence continued.

After several agonizing minutes, I coughed and set my fork down.

"Well, uh, thanks for the food," I stammered, avoiding eye contact with either of my stepbrothers. "I'll wash up if you guys want to go do other stuff."

"I'll help," Itachi suggested, standing up and bringing his bowl over to the sink.

"N-no, no, it's fine," I waved him away. "Really."

Reluctantly my step brothers vacated the kitchen, giving me a little alone time to be embarrassed in private. I also felt safer in the kitchen. It was the first place my dad or Mikoto would come to once they arrived home from work. It was exactly what I needed, a room with potential witnesses. 

* * *

 

I was almost done with the washing up, my hands were wrinkled from the warm soapy water when I heard the front door open. I waited expectantly for someone to come in. No one did. I frowned. Maybe I was just hearing things? Or maybe, whoever had just come in went straight to their room – or the bathroom. Wiping my hands on the dishtowel I went to investigate.

"Hello?" I called as I left the kitchen. "Dad?"

There was no sign of anyone. No freshly kicked off shoes, no briefcase by the door, no car keys in the dish. I shrugged and was about to turn and go back to the kitchen when the door did open. I jumped, startled. Itachi raised an eyebrow at my jumpiness as he walked back through the front door. I pressed my hand to my chest relieved that it wasn't a burglar.

"I was having a smoke," Itachi explained, seeing my worried expression.

"I thought I heard someone come in and I couldn't find anyone," I replied. "You startled me is all."

I lingered in the kitchen doorway unsure if I should bring up what Ino had said. What would I even say to fix it? Deciding against it, I walked back to the sink to continue washing dishes. Itachi followed me, pulling out a chair and sitting at the empty breakfast bar.

"We have a dishwasher you know," Itachi commented after watching me scrub for several minutes.

"I know," I replied, placing a pan on the draining board. "But I like doing the dishes. It gives me time to…relax and stuff."

Itachi went back to watching me in silence. The only noise he made was the drumming of his fingers on the table top. His presence made me feel tense. I rushed to finish washing. When the last dish was washed, I emptied the sink and dried my hands on a dishtowel once more. Itachi was still watching me intently.

"Are you gonna sit there all night?" I asked, half joking. I wanted to know before I set about drying the dishes and subjected myself to another twenty minutes worth of crushing silence

Itachi, sensing my eagerness to be alone, shrugged and stood up. He was heading out of the kitchen when he turned around. He strode back over to me his face determined. I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong.

"Itachi, what's-" I faltered, seeing his serious expression. I backed up against the counter, hoping to create some space when he reached out and grabbed me. I gasped as his hand slid into my hair pulling me towards him. There was a moment of hesitation, as if he had changed his mind at the very last second, before he pressed his lips against mine. 

I froze. Itachi pressed me firmly against the counter. The dish I had been holding slipped from my hand, crashing to the floor loudly but the noise didn't really register at the time.

He tasted like peppermint and cigarettes, I noticed as his tongue slipped experimentally into my mouth. The hand which had been tightly wound into my hair dropped, wrapping around my waist instead, pulling me close. I didn't even resist when he lifted me up, sitting me on the cold marble countertop, pushing his way between my legs. I remained motionless - panicked but unable to move. 

After the initial frenzy, Itachi seemed to come to his senses. As did I. 

Once the shock had worn off, I found myself able to move and immediately fought to push him away. I pushed on his chest and arms, shoving him away and pushing myself back. Itachi's grip was strong but, feeling my unwillingness, he relented - pulling away just a few inches. We were both breathing heavily, our chests heaving in time with one and other. There was a tense moment of silence. I stared at him, confused. 

"I don't-" 

Itachi leaned in again, stifling my words with his lips.

I pulled away quickly, bumping my head on one of the overhead cabinets. 

"Itachi, stop!" I demanded, wishing that there was a way to put some more distance between us. 

Luckily, Itachi took my protestation seriously. He frowned, slight creasing of his brow, but he didn't seem surprised. He let out a deep sigh, stepped back and held his hand out to me. I ignored his outstretched hand, my body still burning from the contact with his skin. I didn't want to feel that again. 

"It's alright," he prompted. "I'm not going to do it again." 

Uncertainly, I put my hand in his and let him help me off of the countertop. 

I tried to ignore the way my legs were shaking as I felt my feet hit the floor. Quickly, I let go of his hand - crossing my arms instead. Itachi kept to his word and made no move to kiss me again.  I watched him warily and he stared back a discerning look on his face. 

"I don't know what you think I am-"

"Sakura, I'm sorry," he talked over me, cutting through my outrage easily. I felt annoyed at how quickly I had been subdued but remained so regardless. "I just wanted to know what it would be like. Now I know." 

"You can't just-"

"Now I know that you have feelings for Sasuke," he stated, with a shrug of his shoulder. Without another word, he turned and walked out of the kitchen, leaving me in stunned silence. 

"WHAT!?" I shrieked. 

* * *

 

**Sweetopia: So I threw you a little bit of a plot twist here. Hope it doesn't upset anyone. I know that this is a SasuSaku main story, but I also feel like I could write an ItaSaku version just as well...but would anyone want to read it or would I be wasting my time?**

**Lemme know what you think about this chapter (and the possibility of me writing an alternate version for ItaSaku). I appreciate all your feedback so much and I hope you guys continue to enjoy my stories!**

**R &R**

**XOXO**


	8. Chapter 8

Coming to my senses, I sprinted out of the kitchen after my eldest step-brother. I had to know what he had meant. Surely, he didn’t really think something so ridiculous…why would _I_ have feelings for Sasuke? I caught up to him at the foot of the stairs. Reaching out I grabbed his arm, pulling him to a halt.

“What are you talking about?” I demanded.

“Sakura-”

“Hey,” Sasuke called from the top of the stairs. I froze. “I heard a crash and shouting. Is everything alright?”

Itachi and I exchanged a startled look. It was clear that he hadn’t expected to be caught. I took a step back, releasing Itachi’s arm. I looked up at Sasuke who was puzzled, waiting for an answer.

“Yeah,” Itachi coughed, breaking the silence. “Yeah. I was just helping Sakura realise something.”

“About that,” I hissed, shooting the older brother a disapproving glance. My lips still felt swollen from his passionate and unexpected kiss not minutes earlier. “I still have some questions.”

“Hn, you two are being weird,” Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes. I held my breath, sure that he was going to figure out what had just happened. I didn’t know why, but I felt guilty.

“N-no we’re not,” I stammered, feeling flustered. Feeling my heart racing in my chest, I grabbed hold of Itachi’s arm again. “We need to talk. In private.”

I shot Sasuke a quick glance before dragging his brother out of earshot into the living room. Checking that Sasuke hadn’t followed us, I closed the door to give us some privacy. When I turned around, Itachi was too close.

“Ugh,” I shoved him back. “It’s not like that. Don’t even think about trying it again.”

“Then why did you invite me in here?”

“What did you mean when you said that I have feelings for Sasuke?” I asked, leaning against the door. “I don’t know why you would think that. I don’t even _like_ him.”

“Really? You’re so sure about that?” He questioned, raising his eyebrow at me. He stepped forward, leaning one arm above my head – pressing me into the door.

I took a deep breath, knowing that he was just trying to unnerve me. I held my ground, refusing to budge. Itachi watched me curiously as I stared defiantly up at him.

“Okay, maybe I was wrong,” he stooped to whisper into my ear.

My cheeks flushed as his face loomed closer.

“Maybe you don’t have feelings for my brother. Which means, I shouldn’t feel guilty about kissing you again, right?”

I closed my eyes, waiting for him to kiss me again. After a few moments, I opened them again, only to see that Itachi had backed off a couple of paces.

“It’s alright, Sakura,” he chuckled, shaking his head at my shocked expression. “I get it, okay. You’re not interested in me. Just, think about what I said, okay? And, if you ever do decide that you’re sick of Sasuke, you know where I am.”

Stepping away from the door, I followed him out of the room. We walked out of the lounge just as my dad and Mikoto walked through the front door. The sight of them made me panic, worried that they would be able to tell that something had gone on between me and Itachi.

I tried to act casual, but in doing so forgot how to act like a normal human being.

“Hey…da-guys,” I waved awkwardly.

Itachi shook his head at me, stifling a laugh. He put his arm around my shoulders, holding me still. I shot him an alarmed look, concerned they would be suspicious of our closeness.

“Hello, sorry we’re late home from work,” Mikoto smiled, waving back as she struggled to take her heels off. “Today has been crazy!”

“Yeah, super stressful,” my father agreed, putting his briefcase down.

I squirmed in Itachi’s grip, wanting to get as far away from him as possible. After our encounter in the kitchen, I needed some time to think.

“Anything interesting happen while we were out?” My dad asked while browsing through the stack of mail on the side table.

The question made my heart leap. I was sure that he knew. I tensed, about to panic.

Sensing my nervousness, Itachi answered for me, “Sakura had a friend over so I made dinner for everyone.”

The casual way he spoke and the firm grip on my arm reassured me. I let myself relax a little.

“It wasn’t a boy was it?” My dad asked, narrowing his eyes. I held my breath, feeling my cheeks heat up. Oh, if only he knew what I had been up to with the boys that already lived here. There was no need for me to bring any home.

“No, Dad, of course not,” I faked a laugh. “Ino dropped me off so I asked her to stay for dinner.”

“Ah, Ino,” My dad nodded. He had always been fond of my best friend, looking at her as another daughter. “Has she been okay? We haven’t seen much of her since we moved in.”

“Yeah, no, she’s fine, just busy, you know what Ino’s like,” I blabbered, eager to extract myself from the situation. I tried to shrug Itachi’s arm from around my shoulders. Knowing that our contact was looking less and less casual by the minute.

Catching my drift, Itachi let his arm fall back to his side – releasing me. I darted for the stairs, giving my dad a swift peck on the cheek as I passed. Claiming that I had homework which I wanted to get finished before Monday. Without a second glance, I rushed to my room.

Slamming my door, I pulled out my mobile and called Ino. It only took two rings before she picked up.

“Hey, forehead.”

“Ino, I’m so mad at you right now!” I hissed.

“What? What did I do?”

“You made Itachi kiss me!” I yelled, a little louder than I had expected to,

“Itachi kissed you?” I heard Sasuke’s voice behind me.

I spun around so quickly that I almost fell over. Sasuke was stood in the doorway of the bathroom, staring at me intently. I covered my mouth in shock. He must have been in the bathroom and had heard me shout.

“Ino I have to go,” I muttered, hanging up the phone. “Sasuke, it’s not…”

“Itachi _kissed_ you?” Sasuke repeated, ignoring my attempt at an explanation. He remained in the doorway, staring, waiting for me to answer.

My mind was racing to come up with a reasonable response. I stood in the middle of my room, unable to escape. If I were to leave, Sasuke would follow and there was no way he was going to leave of his own accord.

“Yes,” I decided to tell him the truth. “He kissed me.”

“Hn,” Sasuke grunted, “just now?”

“No, uh, before…in the kitchen, while I was doing the dishes.”

Sasuke exhaled, his jaw twitching as he clenched his teeth. I could tell that he was angry, even as hard as he tried not to show it. Seeing him upset made me feel strangely satisfied. Concerned by this new feeling, I tried to shove it down – masking it with fear that Sasuke would tell our parents.

“It meant nothing,” blurted. “It’s not like I kissed him back or anything.”

“Wait, you rejected him?”

I frowned, why did he sound so surprised? Sasuke chuckled and shook his head, he looked relieved.

“You’re…you’re not…mad?” I asked, confused.

“Hn, why would I be?”

“No, uh, no reason,” I coughed awkwardly. “Look, Sasuke, I know we don’t really get on, but could you maybe not tell anyone about this? It’s not exactly my proudest moment.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked away, closing the bathroom door behind him. I listened as he walked back through to his room. I was about to chase him through, needing an answer to my question, when my phone rang. The loud ringtone startled me.

It was Ino, eager to learn more about what I had just told her. Deciding that Sasuke could wait, I answered the phone. I talked her through the rest of the evening since she had left. Including every little detail, though she seemed far more interested in the physical details than the conversation which occurred afterwards.

“Ino, he said that _I_ have feelings for _Sasuke,_ ” I stressed, keeping my voice low in case Sasuke was listening.

“Well…”

“Oh no, not you too,” I groaned.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, I tried to return to my usual avoidance tactics. I was planning to avoid my stepbrothers at all costs, too embarrassed to face either of them. It seemed, however, that life had other plans.

I woke early the next morning, hoping to get downstairs and have breakfast before either of my stepbrothers would even be awake. I was in the process of sneaking down to the kitchen when I heard raised voices coming from the living room. Frowning, I paused on the stairs to listen. From my vantage point on the stairs, I couldn’t make out who was arguing or what was being said.

Creeping further down the stairs, I heard my Dad’s low voice. Were him and Mikoto fighting? Or perhaps he had found out about Itachi kissing me?

“Dad?” I called out approaching the door to the living room.

“Sakura, stay there,” Mikoto shouted firmly. I paused outside the door, unsure if I should go in or not.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Sasuke asked from behind me, making me jump. I guessed that he had been woken by the shouting since his room sat directly above the living room.

“I don’t know,” I answered, looking over my shoulder at him. Curious, I pushed the door open.

“Don’t, Sakura!” My Dad yelled, but it was too late. I was already stepping into the room, with Sasuke a few steps behind.

I froze at the sight before me.

“Mom?”

“Hello, Sakura,” my mother smiled, turning to face me.

I shook my head, taking a step back and bumping into Sasuke. I expected him to say something, but he remained silent. Instead, he provided much-needed support, gripping my elbow to prevent me from crumpling to the floor.

My mother stepped closed, holding her hands out to me.

“Don’t!” I warned, flinching away. “Don’t touch me, don’t talk to me, don’t even look at me.”

She looked shocked at my hostility. What had she expected?

“What is _she_ doing here?” I asked, catching my dad’s eye. He looked just as upset as I felt. I knew that this must have been hard for him too.

“I wanted to see you,” my mother said quickly before he could respond. “You’ve grown up so much since I last saw you. You grew into your forehead and everything! Still got your hair though, it’s such a shame you got more of your father than of me. You’d look so pretty with a few more of my features.”

I scoffed. She had always been like this, criticising every single thing about me. You would think that she didn’t even like me. In fact, I was pretty sure that she didn’t. Which was why I was so surprised to see her here.

“Come give your mom a hug,” she reached out for me once again.

“You’re not my mom,” I snapped, batting her hand away. Sasuke held on to me tighter as I trembled with rage. “I don’t know what you’re really doing here, and I don’t care. You’re not welcome, I want you out.”

“Sakura-”

“Out!” I yelled.

“Sakura! I don’t get why you’re being so rude!”

My Dad stepped in then and I was grateful because I was sure that I would have done or said something I would have regretted. Speaking calmly, my Dad tried to corral my mother towards the door.

She protested but eventually conceded to being led out of the door. I stepped aside to let them pass, leaning heavily on Sasuke for support. The shock of seeing my mother so unexpectedly had made all of the drama with my stepbrothers seem so insignificant. I glanced up at Sasuke, grateful for him being there.

There was a tense silence. I felt guilty for Mikoto having to witness such a hostile exchange. I hoped that my mother hadn’t said anything horrible to her, though I wouldn’t have been shocked if she had.

I listened as the front door slammed and my mother’s car started. My Dad returned soon after, his expression sombre. I knew that he would want to talk about it, but I was not in the mood.

Shaking my head at him, I squeezed Sasuke’s hand and pulled away.

“I’m going to my room,” I said bluntly, knowing that if I stayed any longer I would cry.

I barely made it to my room before the tears started. I sat, sobbing on my bedroom floor for quite sometime after that. It was about an hour later that I crawled my way into the bathroom. Deciding that submerging myself in a hot, vanilla scented bubble bath would make me feel better, I sat in the tub as the water filled.

My head throbbed, but the tension was ebbing away from my muscles as I sunk down into the warm water. I was still upset, seeing my mother had been a shock to my system, but I was beginning to feel better.

I washed my hair and settled down into the water until the warmth of it began to cool. Then, I got out. Towelling my hair halfway dry, I dressed in some clean pyjamas and climbed back into bed.

There was a knock on my door a while later, I assumed it was Mikoto or my Dad coming to check on me.

“Yeah?”

“Hn, Sakura, it’s me,” Sasuke called through the door.

Surprised, I told him to come in.

He opened my bedroom door and awkwardly entered the room, avoiding looking me directly in the eyes. I brought my knees up to my chest, hugging them tightly beneath the covers. Sasuke stood uncomfortably in the middle of the room.

“What did you want Sasuke?” I asked tiredly.

“Hn, I wanted to make sure you were ok,” he admitted begrudgingly.

This kind act seemed so unlike him that it softened me a little. Sighing, I patted the bed next to me, gesturing for him to sit down beside me. Shuffling over to give him some more room, I pulled the covers back for him to get in.

Sasuke obliged, settling himself back onto my pillows. I gave him a sideways glance, before returning my attention to the TV. We sat silently for a while watching the TV, without a word or a look at each other.

"She left when I was about four, my mom," I stated softly after a little while. He shifted so that he was facing me, listening intently. "She'd never really wanted me, I’m sure she didn’t. She never wanted a family…and one day she just snapped."

I paused as the memory flickered through my head.

"Me and Dad were baking in the kitchen, it was Sunday and mom was out, so we decided that we would try to make her a cake. She came back early and the whole place was a mess, there were hand prints all over the walls and cake mix on the ceiling. I thought that she'd just laugh, and tell my dad to clean up, but she didn't. She got so angry. She said that she'd had enough and that we were too much hassle and then she just left. I never saw her again until I was twelve. She shows up every now and again, but I’ve made it clear I don’t want to speak to her, but she doesn’t get the hint. My Dad managed to get her to leave and she didn't come back until today…I was happy here…I'd forgotten about her…but she had to ruin it…" I realised that I was crying again and I turned away, scrubbing at my eyes.

"You were right, she's not worth caring about," he said quietly making me look up at him. He was sat next to me, one arm on his lap and the other one playing with a loose strand of my hair.

"Huh?" I wasn’t used to him being so nice.

"She left you and she was stupid to do it, but I'm glad she did because if she didn't we'd still be at each other’s throats and I would be stuck with Itachi as my only sibling for the rest of my life," he smiled at me, just a slight quirk of the corners of his mouth. "I'm sorry about your mom."

"I'm sorry about your dad," I said cautiously.

But Sasuke just laughed it off saying, "It's ok, it was a long time ago."

"Thank you for listening to me," I smiled. Surprised that Sasuke had become someone I could count on for comfort. How things had changed since I had moved in.

 I found myself leaning closer to him as if there was some force pulling us together.

"You're welcome," he smirked leaning closer still. My heart skipped a beat and I felt a warmth spread throughout my body. What was happening to me? I pulled back quickly, not liking the fluttery feeling inside my chest at the way Sasuke looked at me.

* * *

**Sweetopia: Okay so by now it's probably been very evident that I have not stuck to my timetable for updates this week, but my depression has been railing me and I've been trying just to make it through the day getting to uni. I'm feeling better now and I'm gonna try and update everything before I get low again.**

**ANYWAY. Hope this chapter was good? lemme know what you think!**

**Also I'm working on the Itachi version of this fic so keep an eye out, but I'll let you know when I'm gonna post the first chapter of that.**

**Thanks!**


	9. Chapter 9

Christmas in the Uchiha household was a lot different to any other Christmas I had experienced before. Unlike the small Christmas my Dad and I usually had, where I put up the tree on Christmas Eve and took it down again on boxing day to not take up too much room in our tiny house, the Uchiha’s went all out.

The main tree, tree one of six, had been put up on the first of December, although we didn’t get around to decorating it for two weeks afterwards. After the surprise visit from my mother, things in the house had been a little all over the place. But by the time Sasuke and I finished school for winter break, it was beginning to return to normal. Well, as normal as it could be when you’ve made out with both of your stepbrothers.

The difficult thing about the holiday season was that it was expected of me to spend quality time with my new family. I had been dutifully putting in my time, showing my face when Mikoto requested, but quietly keeping my distance from both of my step-brothers. I was sure that they had noticed, but Itachi’s comments about my feelings for Sasuke had unbalanced me. I was beginning to doubt myself, frequently changing my mind between hating the youngest Uchiha and feeling giddy and flustered in his presence. Overall, I had decided that it was safer that I kept my distance. Things between Itachi and I were no better now that it was clear he had an interest in me.

It was Christmas Eve and my unwillingness to participate in family events was really starting to show when Mikoto insisted we all go out for dinner. She had mentioned it a week earlier and, while I had initially agreed, I had hoped she had forgotten about it. Unfortunately, Mikoto had an annoying habit of never forgetting anything.

“So, I made reservations for dinner at seven,” Mikoto mentioned at half-past five on Christmas Eve. We were sat in the lounge, watching a Hallmark Christmas movie. It was just her and me, the boys were off doing god knows what and my Dad had gone to secretly buy last minute presents (some traditions just don’t change).

“Oh, are we still doing that? I thought we were going to just stay in tonight,” I tried not to sound reluctant, but it didn’t come off very convincing.

“Sakura, is everything okay? You don’t seem to want to spend much time with us as a family.”

I could tell that I had hurt my step mother’s feelings. Guiltily I turned down the TV, knowing that she would want to talk about it. I needed to come up with a lie quickly because there was no way I could tell her that I had kissed both of her sons.

“No, everything’s fine,” I tried denying the awkwardness, but she saw straight through me. “I just…uh…the holidays are hard for me…and…uh…”

“Is this about your mom?” Mikoto asked sympathetically. I nodded, it was the perfect cover.

“Yeah, that’s it. My mom,” I agreed.

“Oh sweetie,” she hugged me tightly. I patted her back, still not used to her cuddly nature. “I know it’s hard, but I promise dinner tonight will be fun! And I have presents for afterwards.”

She pulled away, trying to gauge my reaction. I feigned enthusiasm, still not excited about the prospect of an awkward family dinner. Mikoto seemed to buy it. Satisfied with my response, she let go of me.

“Now, where is your father? He’s been out for ages!”

My dad returned not too much later, trying unsuccessfully to hide the shopping bags under his jacket. I rolled my eyes, used to his failed attempts at subtlety. Mikoto seemed enamoured by his ridiculous charade and played along. Taking their flirting as my cue to leave, I traipsed back upstairs to get ready for dinner.

I was sure that Mikoto had picked a restaurant much classier than I was used to and, as I browsed through my closet, I was acutely aware of how little nice clothing I actually owned. Settling on a navy dress that I had bought years ago and never had the occasion to wear (because it was fancier than I had normal cause to be) I hung it on the back of the closet door while I took a shower.

Mikoto was usually pretty serious about timekeeping and, not wanting to upset her more than I already had the past few weeks, I tried to get ready with plenty of time to spare. I was finishing pinning my hair up when there was a knock on the door.

“I’m coming, I promise I’m nearly ready,” I called. I gave myself a once over in the mirror and slipped on my shoes.

Another knock at the door.

“I’m coming!” I hurried over to the door, not wanting to keep my step-mother waiting.

I pulled the door open, ready to receive a gentle lecture about punctuality only to come face to face with the very people I had been avoiding. Sasuke and Itachi stood in the hallway outside my room, both dressed to the nines. Even in my fanciest dress, I couldn’t compare to the sheer class they both managed to pull off and it irritated me. It really fucking irritated me.

“How cute,” Itachi grinned and I knew that he was mocking me. “You’re wearing Uchiha colours.”

I crossed my arms, not liking his patronising tone. I hadn’t even considered that I was wearing the family colour. Looking down at my dress self-consciously, I wondered if I had time to change.

“Hn, c’mon, mom is waiting,” Sasuke coughed, avoiding direct eye contact with me. I frowned but didn’t question it assuming he was in a sour mood for the same reason I was.

I led the way down the stairs, still planning on ignoring my step-brothers. Though it was difficult to ignore them murmuring about me behind my back. I turned to glare at them over my shoulder, almost missing my footing. Stumbling, I caught myself on the bannister eliciting mocking laughter from my step-brothers. 

“Oh, Sakura! Don’t you look beautiful!” Mikoto squealed as I regained my balance and made it the rest of the way down the stairs. “And you’re in Uchiha colours! Doesn’t she look beautiful, boys?”

“Hn.”

“She sure does,” Itachi agreed, draping his arm over my shoulder. It was such a common gesture that it didn’t phase me anymore. Sasuke caught my eye and I glance away nervously, elbowing Itachi gently in the ribs so he would get off of me.  

I laughed nervously, unused to such compliments. Fortunately, there was little time for chitchat before Mikoto had us go out to the car. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about the seating arrangements.

“Sakura you’re middle,” Itachi reminded me as I slid into the backseat of Mikoto’s car. “Move over.”

Sighing, I shuffled across to the middle seat my knees bumping Sasuke as I tried to stay as far away from Itachi as possible. I pulled at the hem of my dress, trying to pull it as far over my thighs as I could. Not that it mattered, Itachi’s intense gaze wasn’t limited to my bare skin. I shuddered as he looked me over and I turned to look out of Sasuke’s window instead. Sasuke looked at me briefly but avoided eye contact.

The drive into town was mercifully short.  Sasuke seemed to have taken it upon himself to ignore me, which I was grateful for and Itachi was on his best behaviour. I was beginning to relax as we pulled up to the valet stand outside the restaurant.

I was correct in thinking that Mikoto would choose somewhere upmarket for such a special family dinner. Even in my best dress, I felt so clearly out of place. I avoided eye contact with the maître d’ as my father spoke to him. How did he, the man who refused to spend more than three dollars on a shirt, look more at home in such a classy place than me?

“What’s up short stuff?” Itachi asked, draping his arm over my shoulder again. I looked around quickly, but no one seemed to notice.

“Nothing,” I grumbled, shrugging his arm off. Once again, Sasuke glanced in our direction and I took a step away from his brother. “Can you just leave me alone for once?”

“Someone’s feisty today, I like that,” Itachi laughed. I was sick of him making fun of me. The constant teasing was getting old quickly. It was safe to say I was glad I never grew up with an older sibling. It gave me a whole new level of respect for Sasuke having to put up with his brother’s bullshit.

“Oh, I see. Sasuke’s watching so you won’t speak to me,” Itachi noted with a sly smile.

I ignored him, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of a response. The maître d’ showed us to our table, pulling out Mikoto’s chair for her. She accepted graciously and sat beside my dad. I was just about to pull out my own chair when Sasuke and Itachi both reached out for it. I swatted their hands away, insisting I could do it myself.

“No, Sakura, let me,” Itachi smiled wickedly at his brother. I sighed, knowing exactly what he was trying to do.

“Hn, no, I’ll do it.”

“Aww, boys! How cute!” Mikoto gushed, clapping her hands together. I rolled my eyes at them, unamused.

“I can pull out my own chair,  _thank you.”_

I pulled the chair firmly from their grasp and sat down. The boys took their seats either side of me. I coughed awkwardly unimpressed by their childish behaviour. Our minor disturbance seemed to have caused a bit of a scene in the immediate vicinity of the table, I could hear a woman from the table behind us whispering to her husband about me. Despite myself, I found I was blushing – embarrassed.

For the rest of dinner, I tried to keep a low profile, speaking softly and letting a lot of provoking comments from my step-brothers slide, instead of telling them to fuck off as I would usually do. Hoping to blend in with the rest of the diners, something which neither of my step-siblings seemed to have a problem doing, I was on my best behaviour. I listened politely as Mikoto regaled us with stories of Christmas’ when she was my age, nodding long but not commenting, even when my Dad told the story of his best Christmas (let’s put it this way it was a little too racy a story for a girl to hear about her father).

“Right, well, I’m going to go use the bathroom,” my dad stood up, still laughing at one of his own jokes. Silently I begged him not to leave me on my own. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Almost as soon as my dad had left, Mikoto followed. I grimaced, knowing for sure that it wasn’t a coincidence that they both needed to use the bathroom at the same time. At that point, I decided that nothing I could do would be more embarrassing than that very obvious move. Beside me, Sasuke and Itachi looked equally disturbed.

I picked at what was left of the food on my plate, my appetite suddenly gone, stewing in the awkward silence that now consumed our table.

“Ugh, I really need to use the bathroom, but I’m not going to go and walk in on that,” Itachi muttered, pointed his thumb in the direction of the bathrooms where our parents were probably doing something vastly inappropriate for the setting. “Still, at least someone’s getting some, right Sasuke?”

“Itachi! Gross!” I chided, hitting his arm. “Those are our parents, I don’t want to think about-“

“Are you finished with your main course?” the waiter asked, stopping at our table, interrupting me.

I fell silent and looked expectantly at Itachi for him to answer. He rolled his eyes at me and told the waiter that we were finished.  I avoided eye contact with the waiter as he took the plate from in front of me and mumbled a quick thank you as he walked away.

“Hn, you’re being extra weird tonight,” Sasuke frowned.

“I-I’m not being weird, you’re weird!” I said lamely.

I was being weird.

In truth, I didn’t know how to act around the Uchiha brothers. Every time I looked at Itachi I remembered what he had said about me having feelings for Sasuke and every time I looked at Sasuke, I couldn’t help but feel flustered. This was all Itachi’s fault really. If he had never told me that I had feelings for Sasuke, I wouldn’t be second guessing myself.

The table fell into silence again and we waited for our parents to return, which they did fifteen minutes later – both looking a little dishevelled. The three of us pretended not to notice, choosing to ignore the fact that our parents had sex at all. It was simpler that way, but it did make for a very awkward desert.

“Is everyone feeling okay? You’ve all gone quiet. You weren’t fighting while we were, uh…You weren’t fighting, were you?” My dad asked, puzzled by the sombre mood he had returned to.

"Hahaha, what are you talking about? We don’t fight,” I faked a laugh, “We’re fine. We’re fine.”

I really needed to stop being weird, I thought to myself. I accidentally locked eyes with Sasuke and felt my cheeks turn red. He gave me a puzzled look.

“Are you sure, honey? You look a little warm,” my dad said, concerned. He reached across the table to feel my forehead, but I swatted him away.

“Dad! I said I’m fine,” I complained. “Just eat your dessert, okay?”

Holding up his hands and muttering something about hormones, my Dad sat back in his seat. Huffing, I bit back a snappy retort and went back to picking at the fruit salad I had ordered. I hated fruit salad. It had been a panicked order in an attempt to seem more ladylike.

The end of dinner couldn’t have come soon enough, I found myself longing for the car journey home even though I knew I would be squashed in between the Uchiha brothers. I drummed my fingers impatiently on the table as my Dad bickered with Mikoto over who would pick up the cheque.

“How come you’re so eager?” Itachi whispered, placing his hand on mine to stop the tapping of my nails on the table. I snatched my hand away.

“No reason,” I shrugged. “It’s Christmas Eve, I’m just excited.”

“Sure,” he rolled his eyes leaning back in his chair and winking at me. “Hey, Sasuke, you’re sitting in the middle on the way home.”

“Fuck off,” Sasuke scoffed, earning himself a warning glance from his mother.

“Fine, then I’ll sit in the middle next to Sakura,” Itachi said nonchalantly, watching his younger brother expectantly for some kind of reaction.

He didn’t get one. I frowned, a little hurt by Sasuke’s uncaring shrug.

And so, when we all _finally_ got back to the car, I wound up pressed as far up against the door as possible while Itachi settled himself in the middle seat. I knew the only reason he had offered to switch with me was to irritate his brother and, as a side project, make me feel uncomfortable.

“Is everyone buckled in?” Mikoto asked, turning around in her seat.

“Sakura hasn’t,” Itachi tutted.

I rolled my eyes, about to reach for my seatbelt when Itachi leaned across me. I flinched as he came uncomfortably close. He grabbed my seatbelt, pulling it across me and securing it.

“There, that’s better,” he smiled leaning back in his seat.

As hard as I tried to ignore Itachi on the short journey back to the house, he tried equally as hard to make that an impossible task. He spoke to me, loudly, making it impossible for me not to answer. Each time I turned to face out of the window I received a teasing squeeze of my thigh and each time I reacted he smiled at me, daring me to shout and knowing that I wouldn’t.

The journey home was tense. Itachi was really toying with the line of appropriate behaviour, once again, and I was powerless to stop him. It was a relief when we pulled into the garage. I was out of the car almost before Mikoto had parked.

Stomping my way through the garage, I hurried into the house eager to be alone.

“Sakura where are you going?” Mikoto called after me as I was halfway up the stairs.

“To bed?” I said hopefully. Surely, she didn’t want me to spend any more time with them?

“But I have, a present for you and then we were going to watch a movie,” she succeeded in guilting me back down the stairs. I told myself I would stay for the gift and excuse myself from watching the movie.

Sighing, I followed her into the living room where the rest of the family had gathered.

“Okay, so this one is for you, Sakura,” Mikoto handed me a beautifully wrapped gift. I paused, feeling awful for being annoyed. I knew that Mikoto was trying hard to include me in her family and it wasn’t her fault her sons were so rotten.

I waited for her to hand the others gifts before we were allowed to open them. Each one of us pulled out the same garish Christmas sweater out of the misleadingly well wrapped packages. I resisted the urge to make a face and tried to keep my expression neutral.

“Oh,” I held the jumper up in front of me. “It’s…nice…Thank you, Mikoto.”

“Do you like them?” She asked, clapping her hands together in glee.

I exchanged an uncertain glance with the boys who were equally unenthused about their gift.

“Yeah, yeah mom, they’re…really great,” Sasuke said, sounding pained.

“I got you all matching! You’ll look so adorable wearing them all together!” She chirped. “Try them on! Try them on!”

Reluctantly, I pulled the jumper over my head. It sat awkwardly on top of my dress and the sleeves fell over my hands. I dreaded to think how I looked. Mikoto’s face lit up as she looked at the three of us and it made it worth it.

“Well, hey,” my Dad chuckled as he walked into the living room, a bowl of popcorn in hand, “look at you guys, all matching.”

“Aren’t they adorable! Sakura, sit with the boys, I want a picture!”

“Sure,” I sighed, shuffling across the carpet to sit at their feet.

Mikoto tutted, instructing us to take it seriously. I groaned, pushing myself onto the sofa between my step-brothers. We posed for several photos, until Mikoto was happy, and then I quickly extracted myself from the situation.

“Well, thank you for the gift Mikoto, but I’m going to go to bed,” I feigned a yawn, hoping she wouldn’t make me sit through a movie. It was getting late and I liked to be in bed before midnight on Christmas Eve.

“Hn, me too,” Sasuke stood up, giving his mother a kiss on the cheek. It was an affectionate gesture which surprised me, I had never seen him do that before. “Merry Christmas mom.”

Man, he sure was cute when he wasn’t being a complete jerk. My cheeks turned pink at the thought and I shook my head, hoping to clear it.

“Oh, I see,” Mikoto pouted. “You two don’t want to spend time with your family on Christmas.”

I sighed. I should have expected the guilt trip. Sasuke groaned, but didn’t argue. He sat back on the sofa, a sour look on his face. It seemed there would be no way I was going to be able to sneak off to be alone. I guessed that I would have to get used to this new holiday tradition.

“Alright, move over,” I grumbled, at my dad who was hogging the majority of the second sofa.

“Me move over? Go sit on the other sofa with your brothers,” he rolled his eyes. Mikoto settled herself in the only availably space beside my dad. I couldn’t help but feel a little resentful. I wasn’t used to sharing my dad’s attention, a fact which didn’t usually bother me.

“Fine,” I snapped, turning to the other sofa. “Sasuke move, I’m not sitting next to Itachi again.”

“Hn, whatever,” he shuffled closer to his brother leaving me just enough room to squeeze in.

The seat was warm. I curled myself into a ball, hugging my knees to my chest, trying to make myself as small as possible. I was very aware of Sasuke’s body beside me. If I moved even an inch we would be touching. The thought sent my heart racing. What had come over me? I had never thought this way before – even when he had kissed me.

All I could think of through the movie was Sasuke. An argument had started in my own head, one half of me adamant that I hated him, the other sure that there was something else going on. At one point, his arm had brushed against my leg sending my pulse racing. I shook my head, trying to focus on the fluffy plotline of the Christmas film, Mikoto had picked out but it seemed impossible.

I could feel Itachi’s gaze. He coughed and my phone buzzed in my purse. Cautiously glancing around the room, I pulled my phone out and discretely checked it. Itachi had sent me a text.

_Go get a drink. I’ll meet you in the kitchen._

Turning, I frowned at him. He raised his eyebrow and jerked his head towards the door.

“I’m getting a drink,” I muttered, standing up.

“SHHH!” Mikoto was like an overly excited child. She was so invested in the movie that she didn’t notice I had left.

Escaping from the lounge made me feel a little better. Now that I was on my own, I calmed down a little. I waited in the hall a moment, listening to see if Itachi was coming after me, before I went to the kitchen to make myself a glass of water. I was raking ice cubes out of the freezer when I heard someone come in to the room.

“Alright, what did you want?” I sighed, turning around fully prepared for Itachi’s usual teasing. “Sasuke!”

It was Sasuke, not Itachi, who was leaning in the doorway. I pressed a hand to my chest, feeling my heart beat quicken at the shock. He was the last person I had expected to follow me out of the room.

“What…uh…what are you doing out here?” I cursed myself inwardly for stumbling over my words.

“Hn, Itachi told me to meet him here,” Sasuke shrugged.

I clenched my fists, that jerk. What the fuck was he up to?

“Oh,” I staid stupidly. “Y’know, he told me the same thing.”

“Wait, why would he want to meet you here?” Sasuke frowned, his brow furrowing as if he were putting something together. “Unless…”

I waited for him to continue, but he remained silence for several moments. While I was waiting, I filled up my cup from the kitchen sink.

“Were you two coming in here to make out?” Sasuke asked abruptly.

I scoffed, offended and startled by the sudden question.

“Why…Why…Why would we do that?” I stammered, unable to make eye contact. It would have been a pretty reasonable conclusion given the fact that it had happened before, but not with the family just metres away. “And why would he invite you in here if that was the case!”

“Hn,” Sasuke took a step into the room, “yeah, that’s a good point.”

“Honestly, Sasuke, I wouldn’t…I’m not interested in him. Not like that. I already told you last time, he kissed me and I rejected him. I don’t…I wouldn’t do it again. I mean I wouldn’t let him kiss me-”

“Alright, I get it,” Sasuke snapped, slamming the kitchen door shut behind him he stepped further into the room.

I jumped, almost spilling my drink. Water trickled down the side of the glass and I hastily set it down, wiping my hand on the hem of my sweater. I watched Sasuke nervously, not used to him being so easily irritated.

“Sorry, I-“

“No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have shouted,” Sasuke sighed, walking over to me. I held my breath as he leaned over me to get a glass out of the cupboard behind me. “Itachi’s really been pissing me off lately. I don’t like how much he messes with you.”

“You…You don’t?”

I was surprised by this revelation. Sasuke had seemed so indifferent whenever he had seen Itachi and I together. The only time I had seen him react was when I had told him about the kiss. I watched him out of the corned of my eye as he filled his glass.

“Hn, no. I don’t. He’s a jerk,” Sasuke grumbled. “You could do way better than him. Don’t let him pressure you into-“

“I just said that I wouldn’t!” I cut him off before he could finish. Since when did he become so concerned with who I did or didn’t sleep with?

An awkward silence settled over us. I fumbled for something to say, but came up at a loss. The only thing I could think of is what Itachi had said to me, and I most certainly couldn’t ask Sasuke about that.

“Well, I guess we should head back,” I broke the silence first, unable to bear it any longer.

Giving Sasuke a tight-lipped smile, I headed back out of the kitchen.

“Sakura, wait,” Sasuke called. I paused in the doorway, turning back to face him. “Uh, no, it’s nothing.”

I frowned, turning away and walking back to the lounge to rejoin the family. Sasuke followed shortly after, giving his brother a subtly kick in the shin as he passed. I stifled a laugh and turned my attention to the TV. My phone buzzed, almost immediately.

_So? Did you talk to him?_

So that had been Itachi’s plan? For me to confess feelings, that I was fairly certain I didn’t actually have, to my step-brother. I looked up from my phone and shot Itachi a disapproving glare.

_Sakura…I gave you a perfect opportunity._

_Don’t ignore me. I was trying to help._

_Hey. If you don’t tell him. I will._

_SAKURA._

I continued to ignore the constant buzzing of my phone as Itachi continued to text me from the opposite end of the couch. Between us, Sasuke had no idea he was the subject of our conversation.

After what seemed like an endless stream of messages, I finally gave in and sent a message back.

_Itachi, drop it. I don’t know why you think I like Sasuke, but I don’t, ok?_

I watched as Itachi typed out a response. Buzz.

_Give it time._

I rolled my eyes, putting my phone away. If only I had known how right he was.

* * *

**Sweetopia: Okay so a fairly long filler chapter here guys! Also unseasonably festive! Hope you enjoyed a little bit of springtime christmast haha! Lemme know what you think, I should be back with an update soon.**


	10. Chapter 10

Christmas and New Year passed without much event – though the cringy family photos we were forced into taking still haunt me to this day – and with the end of the holiday season, Itachi moved back to college. I had to admit that I was relieved. It was much easier to ignore one of the brothers than actively having to avoid both of them. Itachi had been putting me in increasingly awkward positions with Sasuke since he got it into his head that I liked him and I was relieved when he left home.

The end of the holidays also marked our return to school. I was less than thrilled when my alarm blared out at six am that first morning.

Groaning sleepily, I buried my head into the pillows hoping that the alarm would turn off by itself (or that I could at least sleep through it). After a few minutes, the beeping had not stopped and I threw back the covers. With a deep sigh, I lifted myself out of bed and fumbled around on the side table for my phone. Still bleary-eyed, I stopped my alarm.

The temptation to get back in bed was strong, but I couldn’t afford to be late on my first day back – my attendance last term had already taken a hit from my hatred of early mornings and I had promised my dad that I would improve. There was only one thing that would keep me from going back to sleep and that was coffee.

Begrudgingly, I left my room. Yawning, I made my way down to the kitchen. As expected, I was the only one up. It took me a full thirty minutes longer than everyone else to get ready in a morning, which meant I was always up thirty minutes earlier.

Thankfully, Mikoto’s fancy coffee machine automatically made coffee every morning so all I had to do was pour it into a cup. Leaning against the kitchen side, I stretched to pull a mug out of the cupboard.

“Woah.”

Startled by the sound of someone behind me, the mug slipped from my hands and onto the kitchen counter (thankfully without smashing). I spun around quickly, pressing a hand to my chest.

“Shit, Sasuke,” I gasped. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“Hn, I wasn’t sneaking,” he rolled his eyes.

Deciding I was too tired to argue with him, I turned back to the coffee maker, picking up my mug up off of the counter and pouring myself some coffee. Sasuke waited patiently and then did the same. Taking a sip, I shut my eyes, wishing I was a morning person.

“You’re up early,” I yawned, giving Sasuke a sideways glance as he filled up a travel mug with coffee. He was already dressed and ready to leave.

“Hn, I couldn’t sleep,” he shrugged. “Besides, if I knew you walk around in your underwear, I’d be up this early every morning.”

I nodded. In my sleepy state, it took a moment for his words to register. I frowned. Did he just say…? Confused I looked down only to discover that I was, in fact, half naked.  I had fallen asleep the night before in an extra-large t-shirt and in my rush to get coffee, I had forgotten to put pyjama bottoms on. It was a habit which I had gotten out of when we moved into the Uchiha house.

“Oh fuck!” I yelped tugging at the hem of the t-shirt. It was long enough to cover me while standing straight, but stretching upward to reach into a cupboard would have exposed my underwear for sure.

My cheeks turned crimson as I realised what had just happened. Embarrassed, I scoffed and elbowed Sasuke in the stomach before running back to my room – spilling coffee in my wake. From behind me, I could hear Sasuke cracking up.

I was definitely awake then. Awake and mortified.

 I locked the door to my room and sent a text to Ino about it, knowing she wouldn’t be awake for another hour yet. Trying not to think about it, I get ready for school. I was determined not to let this throw me off for the rest of the day.

I managed to get ready in record time and made it down to the garage fifteen minutes earlier than I usually did. Impressed with myself I was about to climb into my car when Sasuke ran out of the house.

“You’re driving me today,” he stated, climbing into the passenger side of the car before I even had the time to protest.

“Hey, wait!” I walked around to his side of the car and opened the door. “You have your own car. You can drive yourself.”

“Hn, I’ve been up all night. It’s not safe for me to drive,” he shrugged, buckling his seatbelt.

“Ugh!”

I slammed the passenger door shut and stormed around to my side of the car. Climbing in, I buckled my seatbelt and turned on the radio – hoping it would mask the inevitable awkward silence. Ignoring Sasuke the best I could, I pulled out of the garage and drove up the driveway towards the main road.

“Hn, where are you going?”

I sighed as I turned right onto the road instead of left to get to school.

“I have to pick up Ino,” I replied stiffly. I was trying to avoid direct eye contact with him, knowing that he would bring up what had happened this morning at the first opportunity I gave him.

My answer seemed to satisfy him and he leaned back in his seat. Chewing the inside of my lip, I drove us to Ino’s house. She didn’t live far from the Uchiha’s, a small mercy. Even over the sound of the radio, Sasuke’s silence was equal parts frustrating and relieving.

“How come you were up all night?” I asked, finally unable to take the awkwardness any longer.

“Hn, I said already, I couldn’t sleep.”

“Too busy jerking off?” I quipped, hoping to elicit some embarrassment.

I pulled off of the main road and into the gated community where Ino and her parents lived and parked up outside her house to wait for her.

“Tch, sure,” Sasuke rolled his eyes, unamused by my childish joke. “Though, after your little show this morning, at least I’ll have something new to think about tonight.”

“Ugh, you’re disgusting,” I scoffed, not really sure what I had been expecting in response.

I pressed the horn sharply, wishing Ino would hurry up and get in the car. She would provide an adequate buffer. Not to mention, no one annoyed Sasuke as much as Ino did and it was fairly amusing to see him get wound up.

“You’re the one who started it,” Sasuke replied shifting in his seat to face me.

I winced. I should not have engaged him in conversation. Pressing the horn again, I hoped that Ino would realise it was a distress signal.

I was finding it hard to be around Sasuke. Itachi’s insistence about my feelings towards my step-brother had really gotten into my head. Did I like him? Glancing at him out of the corner of my eye I noted just how good he looked. I bit my lip, hard as my thoughts started straying into less innocent territory. Yes, alright, it was safe to say that I found Sasuke attractive. Most people, at school, did too. But I was fairly certain that I didn’t like him. He irritated me. I had to remind myself of this as his gaze settled on me.

“What are you looking at,” I said snarkily.

Turning to face him, I felt my heart skip a beat. I knew that look in his eyes. I had seen it before. Taking a breath, I pressed the horn again holding it a little longer this time. Despite my eagerness to look away, I couldn’t bring myself to.

“You know, it’s been a long time since we’ve been alone together,” Sasuke commented with a smirk.

My heart fluttered. I shook my head, partly at the girly sensation I was feeling towards Sasuke and partly to discourage him from saying whatever he was going to say next. He tilted his head, looking at me seriously as I stared back.

Itachi’s words buzzed around my head like flies. There was one sure fire way to know if I did have feelings for Sasuke. Itachi had mentioned it multiple times. Hell, he had even done the same to me. He knew after kissing me just once that I didn’t like him. Would be it the same if I kissed Sasuke. Would I know for sure? I mean, I had already kissed him but that was when I was certain that I hated him. Now I…

“Oh, fuck it,” I muttered under my breath.

Unable to take the wondering any longer, I leaned forward, grabbed Sasuke by the shirt and pulled him towards me.

If Sasuke was shocked by my bold move, he didn’t show it. I closed my eyes, feeling his fingers curl into my hair. His soft, war, lips were just inches away from mine. I was just about to lose my nerve and pull away when the car door opened.

“Shit,” I gasped, throwing myself back into my seat, letting go of Sasuke’s shirt and shoving him away in the same instant.

Sasuke coughed awkwardly, looking away from me and up at Ino who was stood at the passenger side, holding the door open with a smug grin on her face.

“Well, what do we have here?” she asked cheekily, knowing exactly what she had just interrupted.

I groaned, knowing that I would have to deal with her all day. She would grill me mercilessly – insisting that there was more to it than there was. It was just curiosity, I told myself repeatedly.

“Sorry, Ino, you’ll have to sit in the back. I had to drive Sasuke to school today,” I tried to be nonchalant, but the pinkness of my cheeks certainly gave me away.

Ino chuckled as she climbed into the back seat of the car. She made eye contact with me in the rear-view mirror, her eyes glinting mischievously. I shook my head, determined to ignore her and turned up the radio. We all drove to school in silence. Even Ino remained quiet, looking excitedly from me to Sasuke and back again.

Sasuke leapt out of the car almost before I had turned the engine off, muttering under his breath about being late.

“Meet me back here after school if you want a ride home!” I called after him.

To my surprise, he nodded and gave me a small wave as he walked away.

Ino could contain herself no longer, “So! Apparently, my driveway is the hottest new make-out spot in town.”

“Ino, don’t start,” I begged, gathering my bag and books as I climbed out of the car. I knew that my protestations were no good, she was going to tease me relentlessly all day. “Nothing happened.”

“Right, and I’m still a virgin,” she laughed, seeing my red face.

I quickened my pace, trying to get ahead of her, though in the end it was pointless we had homeroom together.

“Come on, Sakura,” she giggled. “You can’t expect me not to talk about it! If you don’t want me to know about you Sasuke then maybe don’t fuck in my driveway.”

“Ino!” I snapped, shushing her as a group of girls stared. “Please, you wanna talk any louder? Nothing happened.”

“Alright, alright,” she sighed as I slowed down to walk beside her. For now, at least I had a reprieve. As it turned out, Ino’s silence would only last for an hour.

 

* * *

 

“Are you coming?” I asked Ino sharply as we walked out of the school doors.

She was unphased by my irritation. Ino had been teasing me all day. Even when we were in different classes, she had texted me whatever joke had sprung into her mind about what she had witnessed in the morning. It was inescapable and had thoroughly got on my nerves.

“Nah,” she shrugged. I braced myself for the next witty comment but was surprised when none came. “I’m meeting Shikamaru after school.”

“Oh? That’s still going on?” I asked, surprised. Ino wasn’t one to keep a guy around for longer than a few weeks, but Ino had been seeing Shikamaru since the beginning of the year. “I’m impressed.”

“Yeah well, he’s sweet,” she shrugged with a dreamy smile on her face, “and he’s probably the least likely guy to cheat on me with anyone. He’s way too lazy.”

I rolled my eyes, she always had to ruin any scrap of sentiment.

“So, what are you gonna do, go to the mall or the cinema or something?”

“Eh, I don’t know forehead, maybe we’ll go make out in my driveway. You made it seem so romantic this morning!”

I shook my head. I should have seen that one coming. Shoving her into the shrubbery at the edge of the car park. My anger only seemed to deepen her amusement and she struggled to pull herself back out from the hedge in a fit of laughter.

“You’re the worst, Ino,” I complained as I walked away from her.

“I love you too, forehead!” She yelled back.

In a sour mood, I stomped over to my car where Sasuke was waiting patiently. Wisely, he refrained from greeting me. I unlocked the car and threw my books into the back before climbing into the driver’s seat. Sasuke got in without a word. He didn’t even make eye contact as he buckled his seatbelt.

I left the radio off, knowing that it wouldn’t make a difference to the awkwardness. Focusing on the road, I pretended that Sasuke wasn’t even in the car. It was more difficult that you could imagine. Despite his silence and his refusal to look at me, I was hyper-aware of him. Ever time he shifted in his seat my heart raced.

The sight of the Uchiha’s driveway filled me with relief. I pulled down the road and quicker than needed and the car wobbled precariously. I winced, waiting for Sasuke to comment on my bad driving. He remained silent. Letting out a sigh, I pulled into the garage, parking my car in its spot.

I turned the engine off, my mind running through the scenarios. I debated asking him about what had happened earlier but decided that it would be better just to leave it. We could go on pretending forever that it didn’t happen as far as I was concerned. Unbuckling my seatbelt, knelt on my seat – leaning into the back seat to gather my books. I had expected Sasuke to get out of the car while I was busy, but he remained sat in his seat, staring straight ahead. Frowning as I pulled my books onto my lap, I was about to ask him what was wrong when he shook his head and turned to face me. In the next moment, he leaned over into my seat and pressed his lips to mine.

It was over before I knew what was happening and Sasuke was climbing out of the car leaving me, stunned, in my seat. I remained motionless for a moment, unsure what had just happened. After a second, I lifted my hand to my lips trying to recapture the feeling of Sasuke’s kiss. It had been gentle, almost fleeting, and yet still so determined. I let out a shaky breath. I think I just found the answer to the doubt which had been plaguing me for weeks.

“Oh shit,” I whispered. I most definitely had feelings for Sasuke Uchiha.

* * *

**Sweetopia: Okay so this chapter was a little shorter than usual, but I think we established some stuff so...**

**For those of you who read my other stories (thank you) you already know the reason for my little hiatus! For those of you who don't - I was finishing my degree (which I have) and I am just a few months from graduation!! Because of my new found free time, I will be updating a lot more!**

**Thank you for reading - your continued support means the world to me!**

**Hope you enjoyed! Lemme know what you think!**

**xoxoxo**


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